/wɜːst/, /wɔːst/, /wɜɹst/
OriginFrom Middle English worste, wurste, warste, werste, wirste, from Old English wierrest, from Proto-Germanic *wirsistaz, superlative form of *ubilaz (“bad, evil”); compare worse.
Cognate with Old Saxon wirsista, wirrista (“worst”), Old High German wirst, wirsesto, wirsisto (“worst”), Danish værst (“worst”), Swedish värst (“worst”), Icelandic verstur (“worst”).
- Most inferior; doing the least good.
“I think putting oil on a burn is the worst thing you can do.”
- Most unfavorable.
“That's the worst news I've had all day.”
- Most harmful or severe.
“The worst storm we had last winter knocked down our power lines.”
- Used with the definite article and an implied noun: something that is worst.
“None of these photographs of me are good, but this one is definitely the worst.”
- form-of, superlativesuperlative form of badly: most badly; least well.
“My sore leg hurts worst when it's cold and rainy.”
“This is the worst-written essay I've ever seen.”
“She's the worst-informed of the lot.”
- Something or someone that is the worst.
“The humorist helps people to explore and confront their worsts”
- archaic, transitiveTo make worse.
- dated, intransitiveTo grow worse; to deteriorate.
“Anne haggard, Mary coarse, every face in the neighbourhood worsting.”
- rareTo outdo or defeat, especially in battle.
“The […] Philistines were worsted by the captivated ark.”
“Her joy and pride in the honour paid to her darling son Adam was beginning to be worsted in the conflict with the jealousy and fretfulness which had revived when Adam came to tell her that Captain Don”
“Jo carried her love of liberty and hate of conventionalities to such an unlimited extent that she naturally found herself worsted in an argument.”
Formsworsts(plural) · worsts(present, singular, third-person) · worsting(participle, present) · worsted(participle, past) · worsted(past) · Worsts(plural)