Worse

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Adverb

CIDE DICTIONARY

Worse, a. [OE. werse, worse, wurse, AS. wiersa, wyrsa, a comparative with no corresponding positive; akin to OS. wirsa, OFries. wirra, OHG. wirsiro, Icel. verri, Sw. värre, Dan. värre, Goth. waírsiza, and probably to OHG. werran to bring into confusion, E. war, and L. verrere to sweep, sweep along. As bad has no comparative and superlative, worse and worst are used in lieu of them, although etymologically they have no relation to bad.].

 Bad, ill, evil, or corrupt, in a greater degree; more bad or evil; less good; specifically, in poorer health; more sick; -- used both in a physical and moral sense.  [1913 Webster]
"Or worse, if men worse can devise."  [1913 Webster]
"[She] was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse."  [1913 Webster]
"Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse."  [1913 Webster]
"There are men who seem to believe they are not bad while another can be found worse."  [1913 Webster]
"“But I love him.” “Love him? Worse and worse.”"  [1913 Webster]

Worse, n. 

•  Loss; disadvantage; defeat.  Kings xiv. 12.  [1913 Webster]
•  That which is worse; something less good; as, think not the worse of him for his enterprise.  [1913 Webster]

Worse, adv. [AS. wiers, wyrs; akin to OS. & OHG. wirs, Icel. verr, Goth, waírs; a comparative adverb with no corresponding positive. See Worse, a.].

 In a worse degree; in a manner more evil or bad.  [1913 Webster]
"Now will we deal worse with thee than with them."  [1913 Webster]

Worse, v. t. [OE. wursien, AS. wyrsian to become worse.].

 To make worse; to put disadvantage; to discomfit; to worst. See Worst, v.  [1913 Webster]
"Weapons more violent, when next we meet,
May serve to better us and worse our foes."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Worse, adj., adv., & n.
--adj.
1 more bad.
2 (predic.) in or into worse health or a worse condition (is getting worse; is none the worse for it).
--adv. more badly or more ill.
--n.
1 a worse thing or things (you might do worse than accept).
2 (prec. by the) a worse condition (a change for the worse).

Idiom

none the worse (often foll. by for) not adversely affected (by). or worse or as an even worse alternative. the worse for drink fairly drunk. the worse for wear
1 damaged by use.
2 injured. worse luck see LUCK. worse off in a worse (esp. financial) position.

Etymology

OE wyrsa, wiersa f. Gmc

THESAURUS

Worse

aggravated, altered, amplified, annoyed, augmented, better, broken, burned, burst, busted, changeable, changed, checked, chipped, converted, cracked, crazed, cut, damaged, degenerate, deliberately provoked, deteriorated, deviant, divergent, embittered, enhanced, enlarged, exacerbated, exasperated, harmed, heated up, heightened, hotted up, hurt, impaired, imperfect, improved, in bits, in pieces, in shards, increased, injured, intensified, irritated, lacerated, magnified, mangled, metamorphosed, metastasized, modified, mutant, mutilated, provoked, qualified, rebuilt, reformed, renewed, rent, revived, revolutionary, ruptured, scalded, scorched, shattered, slashed, slit, smashed, soured, split, sprung, subversive, the worse for, torn, transformed, translated, transmuted, unmitigated, weakened, worse off, worsened

ROGET THESAURUS

Worse

Deterioration

N deterioration, debasement, wane, ebb, recession, retrogradation, decrease, degeneracy, degeneration, degenerateness, degradation, depravation, depravement, devolution, depravity, demoralization, retrogression, masochism, impairment, inquination, injury, damage, loss, detriment, delaceration, outrage, havoc, inroad, ravage, scath, perversion, prostitution, vitiation, discoloration, oxidation, pollution, defoedation, poisoning, venenation, leaven, contamination, canker, corruption, adulteration, alloy, decline, declension, declination, decadence, decadency, falling off, caducity, decrepitude, decay, dilapidation, ravages of time, wear and tear, corrosion, erosion, moldiness, rottenness, moth and rust, dry rot, blight, marasmus, atrophy, collapse, disorganization, delabrement (destruction), aphid, Aphis, plant louse, puceron, vinefretter, vinegrub, wreck, mere wreck, honeycomb, magni nominis umbra, jade, plug, rackabones, skate, tackey, tacky, have seen better days, deteriorate, degenerate, fall off, wane, ebb, retrograde, decline, droop, go down, go downhill, go from bad to worse, go farther and fare worse, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, run to seed, go to seed, run to waste swale, sweal, lapse, be the worse for, sphacelate: break, break down, spring a leak, crack, start, shrivel, fade, go off, wither, molder, rot, rankle, decay, go bad, go to decay, fall into decay, fall into the sear and yellow leaf, rust, crumble, shake, totter, totter to its fall, perish, die, deteriorate, weaken, put back, set back, taint, infect, contaminate, poison, empoison, envenom, canker, corrupt, exulcerate, pollute, vitiate, inquinate, debase, embase, denaturalize, denature, leaven, deflower, debauch, defile, deprave, degrade, ulcerate, stain, discolor, alloy, adulterate, sophisticate, tamper with, prejudice, pervert, prostitute, demoralize, brutalize, render vicious, embitter, acerbate, exacerbate, aggravate, injure, impair, labefy, damage, harm, hurt, shend, scath, scathe, spoil, mar, despoil, dilapidate, waste, overrun, ravage, pillage, wound, stab, pierce, maim, lame, surbate, cripple, hough, hamstring, hit between wind and water, scotch, mangle, mutilate, disfigure, blemish, deface, warp, blight, rot, corrode, erode, wear away, wear out, gnaw, gnaw at the root of, sap, mine, undermine, shake, sap the foundations of, break up, disorganize, dismantle, dismast, destroy, damnify, do one's worst, knock down, deal a blow to, play havoc with, play sad havoc with, play the mischief with, play the deuce with, play the very devil with, play havoc among, play sad havoc among, play the mischief among, play the deuce among, play the very devil among, decimate, Adj, unimproved &c (improve), deteriorated, altered, altered for the worse, injured, sprung, withering, spoiling, on the wane, on the decline, tabid, degenerate, marescent, worse, the worse for, all the worse for, out of repair, out of tune, imperfect, the worse for wear, battered, weathered, weather-beaten, stale, passe, shaken, dilapidated, frayed, faded, wilted, shabby, secondhand, threadbare, worn, worn to a thread, worn to a shadow, worn to the stump, worn to rags, reduced, reduced to a skeleton, far gone, tacky, decayed, moth-eaten, worm-eaten, mildewed, rusty, moldy, spotted, seedy, time-worn, moss-grown, discolored, effete, wasted, crumbling, moldering, rotten, cankered, blighted, tainted, depraved, decrepid, decrepit, broke, busted, broken, out of commission, hors de combat, out of action, broken down, done, done for, done up, worn out, used up, finished, beyond saving, fit for the dust hole, fit for the wastepaper basket, past work, at a low ebb, in a bad way, on one's last legs, undermined, deciduous, nodding to its fall, tottering, past cure, fatigued, retrograde, deleterious, out of the frying pan into the fire, agrescit medendo, what a falling off was there!.

Aggravation

N aggravation, worsening, heightening, exacerbation, exasperation, overestimation, exaggeration, aggravated, worse, unrelieved, aggravable, aggravating, out of the frying pan into the fire, from bad to worse, worse and worse, Int, so much the worse!.