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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

worst.

superlative form of bad: most bad

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/wɜːst/Received-Pronunciation/wɔːst/Northumbria/wɜɹst/General-American

  1. superlative form of bad: most bad Most inferior; doing the least good.

    I think putting oil on a burn is the worst thing you can do.

  2. superlative form of bad: most bad Most unfavorable.

    That's the worst news I've had all day.

  3. superlative form of bad: most bad Most harmful or severe.

    The worst storm we had last winter knocked down our power lines.

  4. superlative form of bad: most bad 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.
Where this word comes from

From 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”).

noun/wɜːst/Received-Pronunciation/wɔːst/Northumbria/wɜɹst/General-American

  1. Something or someone that is the worst.

Where this word comes from

From 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”).

verb/wɜːst/Received-Pronunciation/wɔːst/Northumbria/wɜɹst/General-American

  1. To make worse.

    archaic · transitive

  2. To grow worse; to deteriorate.

    dated · intransitive

  3. To outdo or defeat, especially in battle.

    rare
Where this word comes from

From 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”).

adv/wɜːst/Received-Pronunciation/wɔːst/Northumbria/wɜɹst/General-American

  1. superlative form of badly: most badly; least well.

    form-of · superlative
    My sore leg hurts worst when it's cold and rainy.
    This is the worst-written essay I've ever seen.
Where this word comes from

From 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”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.