- less well
- Working-class children fared rather worse.
- worse than somebody/something They are performing much worse than their counterparts at competitor firms.
- I didn't do it very well, but, if anything, he did it worse than I did.
- more seriously or severely
- worse than somebody/something It's raining worse than ever.
- These workers were treated worse than animals.
- used to introduce a statement about something that is more serious or unpleasant than things already mentioned
- She'd lost her job. Even worse, she'd lost her house and her children, too.
- worse than something The defeat in Parliament has undermined his authority. Worse than that, everybody's now questioning his judgement.
Word OriginOld English wyrsa, wiersa (adjective), wiers (adverb), of Germanic origin; related to war.
Idioms
See worse in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee worse in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishbe worse off (than somebody/something)
- to be poorer, unhappier, etc. than before or than somebody else
- The increase in taxes means that we'll be £30 a month worse off than before.
- I've only broken my arm; other people are far worse off than me.
you can/could do worse than do something
- used to say that you think something is a good idea
- If you want a safe investment, you could do a lot worse than put your money in a building society.
Check pronunciation:
worse