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单词 worse
释义

worseadj.n.

Brit. /wəːs/, U.S. /wərs/
Forms:

α. early Old English wiersa, Old English wirsa, Old English wursa (rare), Old English wuyrsa (Northumbrian), Old English wyrra (rare), Old English wyrsa, late Old English wyrss (probably transmission error), late Old English wyrrsa, early Middle English wuerse, early Middle English wyrse, Middle English vorse, Middle English whorsse, Middle English wirse, Middle English worce, Middle English wros (southern), Middle English wrosse (southern), Middle English wrs, Middle English wrse, Middle English wurce, Middle English–1500s worsse, Middle English–1500s wurs, Middle English–1500s wursse, Middle English–1600s wurse, Middle English– worse, 1500s–1600s woors, 1500s–1600s woorse, 1500s–1600s wours, 1500s–1600s wourse, Middle English–1600s (1700s in derivatives) (1800s nonstandard) wors, 1900s– woss (Welsh English (Flintshire)); English regional 1900s wos (Lincolnshire), 1900s– woss (Yorkshire and Lincolnshire); Scottish pre-1700 vors, pre-1700 worc, pre-1700 wors, pre-1700 worss, pre-1700 1700s– worse, 1900s– wirse, 1900s– wurse; N.E.D. (1928) also records a form Middle English worss; see also wuss adj., n.1, and adv.

β. Old English wersa (rare), late Old English wærsa, early Middle English uuerse, early Middle English– wærse, early Middle English weorse (Oxfordshire), early Middle English werrse ( Ormulum), Middle English vers, Middle English weers, Middle English weerse, Middle English werce, Middle English werchs (transmission error), Middle English wershe, Middle English wersse, Middle English wersshe (southern), Middle English wras, Middle English wres, Middle English–1500s wars, Middle English–1500s warse, Middle English–1500s wers, Middle English–1500s werse, 1500s warsse; English regional 1800s wahce (Yorkshire), 1800s warse (northern); Scottish pre-1700 varse, pre-1700 wars, pre-1700 warss, pre-1700 wers, pre-1700 werse, pre-1700 1700s– warse.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian werra , wirra , Old Saxon wirso , Old High German wirsiro , wirsero (Middle High German wirser , German (regional) wirser , wurser , wieser , wischa ), Old Icelandic verri , Old Swedish (Swedish) värre , Old Danish wærræ (Danish værre ), Gothic wairsiza < a suffixed form (comparative: see -er suffix3 1) of the same Germanic base as worse adv. Compare waur adj., werrar adj., worser adj., worserer adj., and wuss adj., n.1, and adv.Use as a suppletive form. Used as the suppletive comparative form of evil adj. (with worst adj. serving as the corresponding superlative) in all early Germanic languages (except for early Scandinavian, where the corresponding positive was the cognate of Old Icelandic illr : see ill adj.). The use of the suppletive forms worse adj. and worst adj. was extended from evil adj. to ill adj. and bad adj. in Middle English; similarly, the corresponding adverbs worse adv. and worst adv. came to be used as the comparative and superlative forms of ill adv., badly adv., and evilly adv., as well as of evil adv. Compare suppletive use of the antonym better adj. Form history. The comparative suffix (see -er suffix3) was obscured in this word by sound changes in most Germanic languages. The Old English forms (early West Saxon wiersa , Anglian wyrsa ) are usually explained as showing regular syncope of i of the suffix (after it had caused i-mutation of the stem vowel), followed by assimilation and simplification of the resulting consonant cluster *-rsr- , a phonological development leading to eventual homonymy with forms of worse adv. However, because of parallel developments in Old Frisian and Old Saxon, the possibility cannot be excluded that earlier and more complex developments might underlie this. For a discussion of the stem vowel in Old English and Middle English, especially with regard to the history of the β. forms, see worst adj. For the (voiceless) pronunciation of the final sibilant -s- see E. J. Dobson Eng. Pronunc. 1500–1700 (ed. 2, 1968) II. §355.
A. adj. The comparative of bad adj., evil adj., and ill adj.; used as the opposite of better adj.
1. More reprehensible morally, more wicked; less virtuous; having a more evil disposition; more cruel or unkind. Also with an agent noun, indicating that the activity is pursued in a more reprehensible way, as worse liver.In quot. ?a1160 with dative of the person experiencing cruelty.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > [adjective] > worse
worseOE
waura1325
worser1548
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xii. 45 Ðonne gæþ he & him togenymþ seofun oþre gastas wyrsan þonne he.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 979 Ne wearð Angelcynne nan wærsa dæd gedon þonne þeos wæs syððon hi ærest Brytonland gesohton.
lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) (2009) I. xiv. 269 Þi hi send wyrsan þonne nytena þy hi nellað witan hwæt hi sint.
?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1140 Oc æfre þe mare he iaf heom, þe wærse hi wæron him.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 66 Idel speche is uuel. ful speche is wurse.
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1100 He was werse þan sathanas.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 64 Ine þise zenne [sc. zueriinge, i.e. swearing] byeþ þe cristene worse þanne þe sarasyn.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Nun's Priest's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 466 Now certes I were worse than a feend If I to yow wolde harm or vileynye.
a1425 (?c1384) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 348 Þei stelen pore mennis children, þat is werse þan stele an oxe.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xxx. 409 It is saide in old sawes..‘Wars pepill, wars lawes.’
1565 J. Calfhill Aunswere Treat. Crosse f. 174 There are no worse lyuers in the worlde, than likers of the Crosse.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II iii. ii. 128 Three Iudasses, each one thrise worse then Iudas. View more context for this quotation
1646 G. Gillespie Aarons Rod Blossoming 565 Unclean, carnal, prophane persons in whom Sathan reigneth by sin, are worse, and ought much lesse to be admitted to the Sacrament, then those who were bodily possessed of the divel.
1653 in F. P. Verney & M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (1907) I. 547 Wors livers then my self have seen their errors.
1671 H. M. tr. Erasmus Colloquies 226 And didst thou return holy from thence?..Nay somewhat worse than I went.
1718 M. Prior Epitaph 26 So ev'ry Servant took his Course; And bad at First, They all grew worse.
1751 S. Richardson Clarissa (ed. 3) III. xxxv. 173 A fallen woman is a worse devil than even a profligate man.
1818 W. Wilberforce in R. I. Wilberforce & S. Wilberforce Life W. Wilberforce (1838) IV. 395 Keswick worse now as to morals than thirty years ago.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess iv. 77 The song Might have been worse and sinn'd in grosser lips Beyond all pardon.
1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting iii. 69 Considering it no worse to employ myself usefully than to pass the time loitering about.
1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch II. iv. xxxv. 199 I only hope and trust he wasn't a worse liver than we think of.
1968 B. Hines Kestrel for Knave 99 I'm not that bad, I'm no worse than stacks o' kids, but they just seem to get away with it.
2015 Cape Argus (Nexis) 1 July 13 Rape, to my mind, is a crime perhaps worse than murder.
2.
a. More harmful, painful, offensive, unpleasant, or severe.the remedy is worse than the disease: see remedy n. Phrases 2b. worse things happen at sea: see sea n. 10c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > [adjective] > worse or worst (of state of affairs)
worseeOE
worsteOE
waura1325
worsen1634
worstest1768
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [adjective] > harmful or injurious > more
worseeOE
waura1325
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xvii. 123 Oft sio wund bið ðæs ðe wierse & ðy mare, gif hio bið unwærlice gewriðen.
OE Beowulf (2008) 2969 He..forgeald hraðe wyrsan wrixle wælhlem þone.
OE St. Andrew (Corpus Cambr.) in F. G. Cassidy & R. N. Ringler Bright's Old Eng. Gram. & Reader (1971) 215 Þy læs wen sie þæt hine God gefreolsige and us [sc. the devils] sende on wyrsan tintrego.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 7395 Þa beþ hemm ȝarrkedd mare inoh. & werrse pine inn helle Þann iff [etc.].
c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 182 Se herre degre, se þe fal is wurse.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 7691 Wo so come to esse him riȝt of eni trespas Bote he payde him þe bet þe wors is ende was.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) John v. 14 Lo! thou ert maad hool; now nyle thou do synne, leste ony thing worse bifalle to thee.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 366 Now is my prison worse than biforn.
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope xiii. f. ciiv Werse is the stroke of a tonge than the stroke of a spere.
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour i. xxiii. sig. Fvii Whiche nowe beinge men, nat onely haue forgotten their congruite..but that wars is, hath all lernynge in derision.
1596 Raigne of Edward III sig. D2 Lillies that fester, smel far worse then weeds. View more context for this quotation
1597 C. Middleton Famous Hist. Chinon v. sig. F4 Closelie pent vp in delights, farre more worse vnto her than darke Dungeons.
1647 T. Powell tr. V. Malvezzi Pourtract Politicke Christian-favourite 40 Nature which does help to expell a worse distemper then its owne, doth resist to bring in a better.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 312 What have I worse to fear?
1746 W. Hyland Ship-wreck v. 27 Matrimony is worse than the Galleys.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple II. xix. 323 ‘If the weather becomes worse—’ ‘It can't be worse,’ interrupted O'Brien, ‘it's impossible to blow harder.’
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. vi. 111 Come, you drop that stick or it'll be worse for you.
1876 Queen Victoria More Leaves (1884) 333 The rain continued persistently, having got worse just as the prayer began.
1879 J. McCarthy Donna Quixote I. 55 There are worse things to be endured in life than being thought too much of by one's husband.
1935 J. S. Lee Underworld of East xxxii. 233 I came intimately in contact with Yellow Fever, and know what a terrible disease it is, worse even than the plague.
1982 Jrnl. Mod. Hist. 54 764 We look upon fascist terror tactics of the 1920s and, even more, upon later Nazi ones, as premonishments of far worse horrors to come.
2015 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 7 May 40/4 642,000 Syrians live under siege, in even worse conditions.
b. In predicative use, with to and infinitive. Of the object of an action: less readily susceptible to the specified action; harder to do something to. Formerly also with passive infinitive, or with anticipatory it as subject (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > [adjective] > more
worse?c1225
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 41 Þe blake clað..is þickere aȝein þe wind & wurse to seon þurch.
a1300 Passion our Lord l. 525 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 52 Þenne wrþ þe laste dwele wurse to alegge Þene þe vorme were.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 1114 Vor ȝif hii adde o þing iwonne of castel oþer of toune, Wel þe worse it wolde be to bringe hom þer doune.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Ellesmere) (1877) §998 Euere the lenger þat he taried to warisshe hym self..the wounde wolde be the wors for to heele.
c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 94 (MED) A long sak..while it is empty yt is long and flexible or myȝty to be bowid, But, whanne it is fulfillid of ony maner of greyn, it schortiþ & wexiþ inflexible and is þe worse to be meued.
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 91 If suche remedies be taken before the dew tyme,..the siknes will be much worse to heale.
1629 J. Parkinson Paradisi in Sole 540 Apricocke stockes from the stones are hardly nursed vp, and worse to be remoued.
1691 Hutcheson's 45 Serm. on CXXX Psalm xx. 221 As ye say of Hecticks, they are worst to be discerned, but easily cured in the beginning, but when continued in, they are easily discerned, and worse to be cured.
1707 T. D'Urfey Stories 158 Such Lunacy th' Infected Land does feel, Ill to take Counsel, and much worse to heal.
1800 J. Burns Diss. Inflammation II. ii. 183 Ulcers on the foot, or ankle joint, are worse to heal than those a little farther up the leg.
1850 J. Moodie New & Orig. Opinions Sounds of Heart 46 The drunkard is worse to cure, than the temperate.
1931 L. A. G. Strong Garden xxxv. 324 He'd be all the worse to deal with, if he saw he'd been sidetracked.
2012 Thetford, Brandon & Watton Times (Nexis) 1 Feb. Dropping used chewing gum is, to my mind, worse than dropping litter and so much worse to remove.
c. That has a (specified) undesirable characteristic to a greater degree; more prone to some (specified) bad habit; more inveterate, incorrigible, or incurable.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > [adjective] > that does something habitually > given or addicted to something > more addicted to some bad habit
worse1856
1856 Spectator 12 July 740/2 MʽMullen was a drinking man—he frequently indulged in ‘drinking-bouts’; but Mrs. MʽMullen was a worse tippler—she ‘seldom went to bed sober’.
1864 Papers & Proc. R. Soc. Tas. 63 The black cormorant (Phalacrocorax carboides) will, I apprehend, prove a worse poacher than any other bird.
1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch II. iii. xxiii. 21 I never heard but one worse roarer in my life, and that was a roan.
1911 D. H. Lawrence White Peacock i. vi. 100 Don't make me feel a worse fool, Cyril.
1951 J. Thurber Let. 3 Feb. (2002) 506 I do not believe that Fitzgerald was a worse drinker than most of us, but this is always mystical ground.
2009 Private Eye 24 July 16/1 Dons can be worse architectural vandals than clergy.
3.
a. Less good, not so good, inferior; of lower quality or value; more faulty or incorrect.
ΚΠ
eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) (2009) I. xvi. 452 [Þæt an ic wat]..goodes on þa æþelo þæt mænig[ne mon sceamaþ] þæt he wiorðe wyrsa þon[ne his eldran] wæron.
OE Beowulf (2008) 1212 Wyrsan wigfrecan wæl reafeden [perhaps read reafedon] æfter guðsceare.
lOE Distichs of Cato (Trin. Cambr.) lxxx, in Anglia (1972) 90 15 On ælcere ea swa wyrse fordes, swa betere fisces.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 14064 Siþþenn he biginneþþ. To brinngenn forþ summ werrse win Son summ þe follc iss drunnkenn.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 194 Heo wes a cheuese hire cheap wes þe wrse.
a1350 (c1307) in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 24 (MED) God lete him ner be worse man þen is fader, ne lasse of myht to holden is pore men to ryht.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 38 O gode pertre coms god peres, Wers tre, vers fruit it beres.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 63 This sentence and an hundred thynges worse Writeth this man ther god his bones curse.
1481 G. Cely Let. 5 Aug. in Cely Lett. (1975) 112 I sawe newer Hollendars make whorsse payment in my dayys.
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 14 The soile & the sede, with the sheafe & the purse: the lighter in substance, for profit the wurse.
1594 in F. Collins Wills & Admin. Knaresborough Court Rolls (1902) I. 200 My worse cloke.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lvii. 126 They which at all times haue opportunitie of vsing the better meane to that purpose, will surely hold the worse in lesse estimation.
1612 T. Shelton tr. M. de Cervantes Don Quixote (1652) i. viii. 14 He said in his bad Spanish and worse Basquish; Get thee away knight.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iii. i. 140 Thy Master is a Wise and Valiant Romane, I neuer thought him worse . View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) iii. ii. 52 Agr. He ha's a cloud in's face. Eno. He were the worse for that were he a Horse. View more context for this quotation
1616 J. Taylor Vrania xliii. B 8 b Worse then the dust, that vnder-foot is trod.
1650 T. Hobbes Humane Nature A 7 For the Stile, it is therefore the worse, because, whilst I was writing, I consulted more with Logick then with Rhetorick.
1654 E. Gayton Pleasant Notes Don Quixot i. i. 2 I attribute this Costivenesse..to his yeares, being on the worse side of forty.
1666 Earl of Orrery Coll. State Lett. (1742) 187 The argument was bad, the plot worse, the contempt of authority worst of all.
1741 Countess of Pomfret in Countess of Hartford & Countess of Pomfret Corr. (1805) III. 85 I..went to see the palace of prince Giustiniani. In my life I never saw a worse.
a1745 J. Swift Story Injured Lady (1746) 2 She hath bad Features, and a worse Complexion.
1759 R. Brown Compl. Farmer 32 Sheep..should be bought from a worse land to bring on to a better.
1784 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations (ed. 3) II. iv. viii. 516 Though it is acknowledged that the commodity of the distant country is of a worse quality than that of the near one.
1790 J. Bruce Trav. Source Nile III. v. iii. 70 It [sc. the flesh of an antelope] was lean, had a musky taste, and was worse meat than the goat we had bought from the Shiho.
1820 W. Scott Monastery I. Introd. Ep. 45 ‘They are prime stanes’..‘warse than the best wad never serve the Monks, I'se warrant.’
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge lxv. 317 ‘Worse manners,’ said the hangman..‘I never see in this place afore.’
1847 G. F. Ruxton Adventures Mexico & Rocky Mts. xxxiii. 306 Old manuscripts, written on bad paper, and with worse ink.
1894 Times 10 July 11/3 [Tennis] Two fine chases—worse than a yard and better than half a yard.
1911 Athenæum 19 Aug. 216/3 We do not know that his book is much the worse for this avowal of purpose.
1988 P. O'Brian Let. of Marque (1992) viii. 234 It will save him all this wearisome toiling and moiling, bad company and worse food.
2001 Daily Tel. 10 May 22/3 Everything about the performance was in bad faith and worse taste.
b. In phrases indicating loss or defeat, as † the worse deal (deal n.1 2a), the worse end (now only with of), † the worse part, † the worse side. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > defeat or overthrow > loss or defeat [phrase]
the worse dealOE
the worse enda1387
the worse parta1400
the worse sidea1500
OE Crist III 1225 Ond þær womsceaþan on þone wyrsan dæl fore scyppende scyrede weorþað.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 29 [c1410 BL Add. Þat ȝere men of þat side] schal haue the worse ende and be ouercome.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 21466 Þan said þat juu, ‘bi sant drightin Mi thinc þe wers part es mine’.
a1500 (?a1475) Guy of Warwick (Cambr. Ff.2.38) l. 3537 Yf he falle on þe warse syde.
1534 J. Heywood Play of Loue sig. Div Then shall I shewe such a thyng in this purs As shortly shall shewe herein your parte the wurs.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. iii. sig. Gv Who had the wors ende of the staffe (quoth I now?).
1610 J. Healey tr. St. Augustine Citie of God viii. viii. 310 They that tooke the bodies part had the worse side, the soule had the better.
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables ccc. 262 He that Bought the Skin ran a Greater Risque then T'other that Sold it; and had the Worse End of the Staff.
1864 J. A. Griner Let. 29 Oct. in Pennsylvania Mag. Hist. & Biogr. (1963) 87 57 I think the Rebs got a great deal the worse end of the bargain.
1989 Béaloideas 57 94 The devil gets the worse end of the bargain.
c. Less suitable or fitting; less favourable, advantageous, or attractive.worse luck: see luck n. Phrases 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > disharmony or incongruity > unsuitability or inappropriateness > [adjective] > more
worsea1393
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) Prol. l. 57 Men sein it [sc. the world] is now lassed, In worse plit than it was tho.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iii. l. 1563 (MED) I finde Danger in hire stede And myn ansuere of him I have..I finde his ansuere ay so badde That werse mihte it nevere be.
c1450 (a1400) Sir Eglamour (Calig.) (1965) l. 293 In wers tyme blewe he neuer horne.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes ii. 300 And to that horrible cruell dede he gaue no wurse name but vncomely demeanure.
?1543 tr. Erasmus Sileni Alcibiadis sig. Bviii A..man whyche corruptith the princes maners wyth worse counsell whiche infeatyth the myndes wyth folysshe oppinions.
1580 G. Harvey in E. Spenser & G. Harvey Three Proper & Wittie Lett. 35 Non omni dormio, worse lucke.
1634 A. Warwick Spare-minutes (ed. 2) i. 14 I will either make my fortunes good, or bee content they are no worse.
1658 W. Style Narrationes Modernæ 23 Oftentimes dubious words shall be taken in the worse sense.
1685 J. Dryden Sylvæ Pref. sig. a3 But it will be ask'd why I turn'd him into this luscious English, (for I will not give it a worse word).
1733 A. Pope Of Use of Riches 16 Which of these is worse? Want with a full, or with an empty purse?
1750 J. Nelson Jrnl. (1836) 23 I have the odds of you, for I have a much worse opinion of myself than you can have.
1775 R. B. Sheridan St. Patrick's Day i. i I never see her but she puts me in mind of my poor dear wife. O'Con. Ay, faith; in my opinion she can't do a worse thing.
1797 H. Lee Canterbury Tales I. 338 Nothing makes a man worse company than being in love with his own thoughts.
1835 T. Mitchell in tr. Aristophanes Acharnians 584 (note) This word [λιπαρός] bore two meanings; its better sense implying brightness and splendour, its worse betokening fatness and grease.
1841 W. Spalding Italy & Ital. Islands I. 372 They were much given..to fixing maximum prices on provisions of every sort, but in respect to corn they did what was even worse.
1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch II. iii. xxv. 56 No very good news; but then it might be worse.
1916 J. Burroughs Under Apple-trees ii. 41 One might have a worse fate than to have his lot cast in a rockless country.
1967 ‘F. Clifford’ All Men are Lonely Now i. v. 89 The painters are descending on us tomorrow... Couldn't happen at a worse time.
2012 I. Persson & J. Savulescu Unfit for Future x. 110 The capuchin monkeys..reacted negatively only when they themselves were treated worse, not when their partners got the worse deal.
d. Of precious metal or coin: of less value or lower purity than (a specified standard). Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > value of money > [adjective] > lowered in value
worse1423
base1581
embased1602
depreciated1790
light1839
debaseda1859
devalued1925
1423–4 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1423 §55. m. 31 Like it unto your hygh discretions..to ordeine that the maistre of the mynte, resceyve al maner of silver..after the verray value; that is to say, yf be as good in alay as the old sterlyng, to take it wyth oute gruchyng or disavauntage..and yif it be wars, to rebate truly the disavaill therof, after the feblenesse of the alay.
1489–90 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VII (Electronic ed.) Parl. Jan. 1489 §12. m. 4 All such fyne silver..shall be..made so fyne that yt may bere .xij. peny weght of alay in a pownd wight, and yet be as goode as sterlyng and rather better then werse.
1548 H. Latimer Notable Serm. sig. B.viiv The saying is; that synce priestes haue bene mynters, money hath bene wurse then it was before.
a1617 P. Baynes Epitomie Mans Misery & Deliuerie (1619) 11 Let vs not think our pennie made worse siluer than it is.
1681 London Gaz. No. 1632/4 Five Silver-Hilted Swords, the Hilts of which are found upon the Tryal, more then one Shilling in every Ounce worse than the Sterling.
1716 in London Gaz. No. 5404/4 Silver..one third Part worse than the said Act directs.
1782 in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) (1803) 93 135 The coins were worse than standard.
1814 W. Dickson Mitigation of Slavery Introd. p. xxviii W. Indian writers would always express their money in sterling, which is universally understood, instead of the island currencies, which are from 40 to 60 and even 75 per cent. worse than sterling.
1874 W. G. Sumner Hist. Amer. Currency i. 11 It would therefore have been 22 per cent. worse than sterling.
1911 Brass World & Platers' Guide Oct. 362/2 The breaking up of any [wares] found to be worse than standard.
1978 C. E. Challis Tudor Coinage ii. 83 At roughly one ounce worse than sterling this issue was only modestly debased.
2004 J. Oldham Eng. Common Law in Age of Mansfield iii. 99 Indictment for selling gold and silver worse than standard.
e. Of a person: more unskilful or inefficient; that carries out an activity more badly; less qualified to be what is specified. Also: (of a thing) less suitable for some purpose.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > more unskilful
worse1570
1570 T. North tr. A. F. Doni Morall Philos. iii. f. 72v The more shee spake, the worse heade had he to vnderstande hir.
1573 T. Bedingfield tr. G. Cardano Comforte sig. C.iv Neyther is it any maruayle though Archilochus a passing good Poet (but so much worse Philosopher) was compelled of the Lacedemonians the very same houre that hee came into towne, to be packinge awaye agayne, for wrytinge this sentence.
a1639 H. Wotton Parallel betweene Earle of Essex & Duke of Buckingham (1641) 9 In the sensitive part of their Natures the Earle was the worse Philosopher, beeing a great Resenter and a weak dissembler of the least disgrace.
1671 E. Conway Let. 20 June (1992) vi. 338 My Lord Chesterfield give £10 a year standing wages, and..many other profits of his garden, to a worse gardener than Francis.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 159 If I was a bad Carpenter, I was a worse Tayler.
1755 J. G. Cooper Lett. conc. Taste iv. 30 He was a very indifferent Critic, and a worse Poet.
1818 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 1 49 For the same reason they are perhaps bad absorbers and still worse retainers of heat.
1827 M. Faraday Chem. Manip. xvii. 450 These remarks..become more applicable, when the substance acted upon is a worse conductor of electricity.
1868 A. L. Gordon Let. 6 Oct. in H. G. Turner & A. Sutherland Developm. Austral. Lit. (1898) 201 Mount..has a head worse if possible for business than mine.
1898 J. Arch Story of Life xii. 281 The more uneducated a man is the worse hand he is at waiting.
1903 Business Woman's Mag. (Denver) July 65/2 She had even a worse head for accounts than her daughter.
1984 J. Kelman Busconductor Hines iii. 112 Smoking helped him get out of bed on bad mornings. Without that to look forward to he would be an even worse timekeeper.
2013 Daily Tel. 15 Feb. 34/6 The standard baseball measure of skill, the batting average, was a far worse predictor of success than another, ‘on-base percentage’.
4. In predicative use (often with the: see the adv.).
a. Less well in health, physical condition, or spirits; less hale or strong.Sometimes also preceded by the and sometimes also with for followed by a noun phrase indicating the cause, e.g. none the worse for the experience.Cf. Phrases 1d.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased
untrumc825
sickc888
unwholec888
slackc897
unstronga900
sicklea1000
sam-halea1023
worseOE
attaint1303
languishinga1325
heallessc1374
sicklyc1374
sicklewa1387
bada1393
mishalea1400
languoring?c1425
distempered1440
unwell?c1450
detent?a1475
poora1475
languorousc1475
maladif1481
illa1500
maladiousc1500
wanthriven1508
attainted1509
unsound1513
acrazed1521
cracked1527
unsoundya1529
visited1537
infirmed1552
crazed1555
healthless1568
ill-liking1572
afflicted1574
crazy1576
unhealthful1580
sickish1581
valetudinary1581
not well1587
fainty1590
ill-disposed1596
unhealthsome1598
tainted1600
ill-affected1604
peaking1611
unhealthy1611
infirmited1616
disaffected1626
physical1633
illish1637
pimping1640
invalid1642
misaffected1645
valetudinarious1648
unhale1653
badly1654
unwholesome1655
valetudinous1655
morbulent1656
off the hooksa1658
mawkish1668
morbid1668
unthriven1680
unsane1690
ailing1716
not wellish1737
underlya1742
poorly1750
indifferent1753
comical1755
maladized1790
sober1808
sickened1815
broken-down1816
peaky1821
poorlyish1827
souffrante1827
run-down1831
sicklied1835
addle1844
shaky1844
mean1845
dauncy1846
stricken1846
peakyish1853
po'ly1860
pindling1861
rough1882
rocky1883
suffering1885
wabbit1895
icky-boo1920
like death warmed up1924
icky1938
ropy1945
crappy1956
hanging1971
sick as a parrot1982
shite1987
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > [adjective] > worse or worst (of physical condition)
worseOE
OE West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Corpus Cambr.) v. 26 Fram manegum læcum fela þinga þolode, & dælde eall þæt heo ahte, & hit naht ne fremode, ac wæs þe wyrse.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1513 Worse was neuer woman for wo at hire herte.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Mark v. 26 [She] was nothing amendid, but was rather the wors.
1508 W. Kennedy Flyting (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems W. Dunbar (1998) I. 215 And now thy wame is wers than ewir it was.
1540 J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus iv. vi. sig. Vivv It liketh me not to remember it .i. I am the worse whan I thynke on it.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Warsse to be for age, vetutesco.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. iii. 3 Theres no doubt his Maiestie Will soone recouer his accustomed health. Gray. In that you brooke it, ill it makes him worse . View more context for this quotation
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 ii. iv. 101 I am the worse when one saies swagger. View more context for this quotation
1603 T. Dekker 1603: Wonderfull Yeare sig. E2v There was she worse then before.
1662 H. Stubbe tr. A. de Ledesma in Indian Nectar v. 89 Nor do I remember, that any of our Countrymen [Hollanders] was ill, or any thing the worse for drinking of Chocolata daily.
1667 S. Pepys Diary 18 Mar. (1974) VIII. 119 My mother grows so much worse that he fears she cannot long continue.
1746 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 44 75 During the first ten Days he was attended by his Apothecary only; who, finding him grow worse, proposed a Physician, who was accordingly called in.
1776 Trial Maha Rajah Nundocomar for Forgery 23/1 He was at first very ill, then got better; he is now worse.
1837 J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Scott IV. viii. 261 He answered, that he had ridden more than forty [miles], a week before,..and felt nothing the worse.
1856 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire V. xliii. 81 Germanicus grew rapidly worse.
1859 F. Nightingale Notes on Nursing iv. 30 I hope you were not the worse for my visit.
1914 G. Lee Diary 27 Oct. in Home Fires Burning (2006) 52 Poor old Grandpapa was calm and so far is none the worse for the shock, but it was a narrow squeak!
1976 G. Gordon 100 Scenes from Married Life 160 Hospitals were to make people better, not worse.
2015 Daily Tel. 1 Dec. 13/1 The closer she was to a wireless router, the worse she felt.
b. Less fortunate, less well off; in less favourable circumstances; in a less advantageous position. Now usually preceded by the, and frequently with for followed by a noun phrase indicating a person or thing that might have an adverse effect (or it referring back), e.g. you will be the worse for it. Cf. worse off adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > [adjective] > in less fortunate circumstances
worseOE
worse off1872
OE Laws of Cnut (Nero) ii. xvi. 320 Se þe oþerne mid wo forsecgan wylle, þæt he aðer oððe feo oððe freme þe wyrse sig.
OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.iv) anno 1065 Þa Ryðrenan dydan mycelne hearm abutan Hamtune.., swa þæt seo scir & þa oðra scira þæ ðærneah sindon wurdon fela wintra ðe wyrsan.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (Bodl.) (1981) l. 60 (MED) Hwa wes wurse þene heo, heorte iwundet inwið, for þe wrecches þet ha seh se wraðe werkes wurchen aȝein Godes wille?
a1325 (c1280) Southern Passion (Pepys 2344) (1927) l. 2458 (MED) A man nys neuere þe wors, þey an-oþer habbe betere cas.
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. i. l. 26 And drink whon þou druiȝest, but do hit not out of Resun, Þat þou weor[þ]e þe worse whon þou worche scholdest.
c1450 (c1350) Alexander & Dindimus (Bodl.) (1929) l. 231 For þe wers is no weih, wis ȝif he seme, Þouȝ he finde oþur folk folewen his dedus.
a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Eiiiiv To make fayre promyse what are ye the worse.
a1542 T. Wyatt Coll. Poems (1969) cvii. 58 A diligent knave that pikes his maisters purse May please him so that he withouten mo Executour is, and what is he the wourse?
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) v. i. 25 Thou shalt not be the worse for me, there's gold. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) ii. i. 266 Say, this were death That now hath seiz'd them, why they were no worse Then now they are. View more context for this quotation
1621 M. Wroth Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania i. 1 Miserable Vrania, worse art thou now then these thy Lambs; for they know their dams, while thou dost liue vnknowne of any.
c1680 W. Beveridge Serm. (1729) II. 302 In that they think they get good by such hearing..they are really the worse for it.
a1708 W. Beveridge Thes. Theologicus (1711) III. 203 Thou art never the worse, for others being better.
a1784 S. Johnson in H. L. Piozzi Anecd. Johnson (1786) 63 How would the world be worse for it,..if all your relations were at once spitted like larks, and roasted for Presto's supper?
1840 R. H. Barham Jackdaw of Rheims in Ingoldsby Legends 1st Ser. 220 Nobody seem'd one penny the worse!
1871 G. Meredith Harry Richmond II. iii. 33 We shall not be the worse for a ghostly adviser at hand.
1916 G. B. Shaw Androcles & Lion p. xxx Unless you love your neighbor as yourself and he reciprocates you will both be the worse for it.
1970 New Yorker 14 Nov. 108 Millions of boys..live, as Captain Ahab says, with half of their heart and with only one of their lungs, and the world is the worse for it.
2010 AQ 82 4/1 If all of social science were to be swept away, instantly—would we be any the worse for it?
c. Of a thing: in less good condition; showing signs of damage, deterioration, or loss of quality. Usually preceded by the, and with for (also †of) followed by a noun phrase indicating the cause, e.g. the uniform was the worse for having been packed in his travel bag.the worse for wear: see wear n. 1b. the worse for wearing: see wearing n.1 3.
ΚΠ
OE Wulfstan Baptism (Hatton 113) (1957) 177 Gyf he [sc. the sinful priest] ðæra þenunga aþere deð.., ne byð seo þenung þæs na þe wyrse.
c1300 St. Dominic (Laud) 64 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 279 Þat writ lay longue in þat fuyr, and neuere þe weorse it nas, Ne nouȝt i-wemned of one lette[r].
1402 in Rev. Eng. Stud. (1932) 8 262 (MED) I prey ȝow þat..ȝe myȝt come hyder..and sete..is hous in better gouernawnse, for..hyt ys euer lenger þe wers.
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) xi. l. 101 Let brede hem [sc. olives], lest they hete and be the wers.
1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. C What were thy lips the worse for one poore kis? View more context for this quotation
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. xii. sig. Y8 Euery matter worse was for her melling. View more context for this quotation
1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. xlv. sig. O3 An Arrow aimed right, is not the worse for being drawne home.
1662 G. Atwell Faithfull Surveyour (new ed.) 109 Out of every hors-footing,..I could take up whole yeapsonds [of wild oats] that were never the worse for the fire.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison II. xviii. 129 Sir Charles answered..That he would take a survey of the timber upon his estate, and fell that which would be the worse for standing.
1824 in Spirit of Public Jrnls. (1825) 213 His face..rather the worse of the dirt by which it was encased.
1883 D. C. Murray Hearts (1885) xvii. 137 Her finery was naturally all the worse for having been fine.
1979 J. P. Hogan Two Faces of Tomorrow (1987) 12 The backpack..appeared none the worse for having taken the impact of Cummings's fall.
2005 Independent 18 Jan. (Review section) 18/4 Their ‘city’ flamenco sounds almost sedate—and none the worse for that.
B. n.
1.
a. That which is worse; worse circumstances or conditions; a greater degree of badness. See also to do worse at Phrases 2a.Frequently in statements about future or subsequent events, as worse is yet to come.
ΚΠ
OE Cynewulf Elene 1039 He þæt betere geceas, wuldres wynne, ond þam wyrsan wiðsoc, deofulgildum, ond gedwolan fylde, unrihte æ.
OE Beowulf (2008) 1739 Him eal worold wendeð on willan; he þæt wyrse ne con.
lOE Distichs of Cato (Trin. Cambr.) lxxix, in Anglia (1972) 90 15 Ne bið þæt yfel to nohte gebet, ðe bið to wyrsan gebroht.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 12387 Ȝif þu swa nult don þu scalt wursen [c1300 Otho worse] vnder-fon.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Tim. iii. 13 Yuel men and disceyueris schulen profyte [a1425 L.V. encreese] into worse [L. peius], errynge, and sendyng into errour.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. 2425 Allas..I hider cam, fro wik vnto wers I nam.
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iii. l. 1074 Now is wykke I-turned vn-to worse.
a1500 Lancelot of Laik (1870) 515 Wers than this can nat be said for me.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. iii. sig. P5 For feare of worse, that may betide.
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. iv. 163 This bad beginnes, and worse remaines behind. View more context for this quotation
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iii. ii. 70 To feare the worst oft cures the worse . View more context for this quotation
1612 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. I. i. iv. 273 Weake and base minds euer incline to the worse.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 128 Though thereby worse to me redound. View more context for this quotation
1744 R. Arnald Crit. Comm. Bk. Wisdom of Solomon xvii. 121/2 They apprehended that something more dreadful, tho' unseen and unknown, might still happen, and that worse was yet to come.
1789 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 475 And, if it please thee heavenly guide, May never worse be sent.
1812 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Cantos I & II i. iv. 5 Worse than adversity the Childe befell.
1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet III. vii. 207 With fair warning not to come back on such an errand, lest worse come of it.
1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. III 423 Ah, farewell, Lest of mine eyes thou shouldst have worse to tell Than now thou hast!
1976 J. Y. Wong Yeh Ming-Ch'en vii. 139 Worse was yet to come in the following decade, which was marked by endless rebellions.
2007 J. Kavenna Inglorious (2008) 18 Don't sink. You owe it to yourself. You've tried so hard. And worse will come.
b. That which is inferior in quality or value. Cf. sense A. 3.
ΚΠ
OE Homily (Hatton 114) in J. Bazire & J. E. Cross Eleven Old Eng. Rogationtide Homilies (1989) 141 Þæt we of ðam wacran and of þam wyrsan to þam beteran and to þam selran becuman moton.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) iii. sig. Gg4v Neuer after to feede of worse then furmentie.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice ii. vii. 55 Neuer so rich a Iem was set in worse then gold. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 102 For what God after better worse would build? View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 58 All below, whether by Nature's Curse, Or Fates Decree, degen'rate still to worse . View more context for this quotation
1775 Monthly Rev. Aug. 176 The dishes are all good, any some of them are of the first rank... As to this, it might be better, but we have seen worse.
1814 H. F. Cary tr. Dante Vision II. xvi. 73 Each must perforce decline to worse.
1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda IV. vii. lvi. 153 That thorn-pressure which must come with the crowning of the sorrowful Better, suffering because of the Worse.
1982 Public Papers Presidents (Nexis) 30 Mar. The President. How good do I look? [Laughter] Q. Pretty good, pretty good. The President. Thank you. Q. I've seen worse. I have seen a lot worse.
2003 K. Sampson Freshers 23 ‘Brekkie worth bothering with, then?’ ‘Not bad, as it goes,’ says Simon. ‘Had worse,’ offers Ben.
c. As an alternative or addition following an unfavourable description: something worse still. Usually in or worse, and worse.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > worse > [noun] > something worse still
worsec1400
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xviii. l. 72 Men may lykne letterid men to a lussheborgh, oþer werse [a1425 Cambr. Ff.5.35 a wurse].
a1513 H. Bradshaw Lyfe St. Werburge (1521) i. x. sig. c.viiiv A vyllayne orels wers, sothly thou was borne.
1617 Bp. J. Hall Quo Vadis? (new ed.) xviii. 64 Their late Patron..was after his death in their pulpits proclaimed Tyran and worse.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler vii. 147 I might say more of this, but it might be thought curiosity or worse . View more context for this quotation
a1734 R. North Life F. North (1742) 224 The Man's Wife was his Nurse, or worse.
1851 C. Kingsley Yeast xiii They say, sir, he went up to court, and slandered the nuns there for drunkards and worse.
1898 ‘H. S. Merriman’ Roden's Corner xxv. 269 Everybody knows that it is a disgrace or worse—perhaps a crime.
1935 J. Agate Diary 2 Feb. in Selective Ego (1976) 17 A well-known pianist and teacher suspected of flirting, and worse, with his pupils.
2015 Nature 15 Oct. 464/2 David Ozonoff..warns that researchers can expect to be called ‘hired guns’ or worse.
2.
a. A person who is worse. Also (now more usually): (with plural agreement and the) those that are worse.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > worse > [noun] > person
worseeOE
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > [noun] > person of bad character > worse person or persons
worseeOE
eOE Metrical Dialogue of Solomon & Saturn (Corpus Cambr. 422) ii. 359 Ac forhwon ðonne leofað se wyrsa leng? Se wyrsa ne wat in woroldrice on his mægwinum maran are.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 85 In halie chirche boð betere and wurse.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 1057 Caym was þe feindes fode, was neuer wers of moder born.
a1529 J. Skelton Poems against Garnesche in Poet Wks. (1843) I. 126 Beholde thi selfe, and thou mayst se; Thow xalte beholde no wher a warse.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Envoy 12 The better please, the worse despise, I aske nomore.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iii. ii. 112 I feare there will a worse come in his place. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) i. ii. 59 And let her dye too, and giue him a worse, and let worse follow worse . View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 903 He..shall see her gaind By a farr worse . View more context for this quotation
1706 J. Stevens New Spanish Dict. i. at Venír When People find fault with those that use them well, they say, A worse will come, and then they will find the difference.
1771 Polit. Reg. Mar. 184 His tale of the old woman, calculated to make us sit down easy under a bad administration, because a worse might come in their place.
1785 W. Paley Princ. Moral & Polit. Philos. vi. ix. 544 In which society the worse are sure to corrupt the better.
1864 D. Ward Let. 2 Aug. in Georgia Hist. Q. (1955) 39 191 Lincoln is not at all my choice and it is difficult for me to conceive a contingency in which I shall vote for him. But still even a worse may be elected.
1901 Westm. Gaz. 6 Nov. 2/4 Fool will take Fool, and Worse take Worse.
1994 J. Hayden Poles Apart xii. 193 The good are those who positively opposed communism. The worse are those who did nothing and the worst are those who supported it.
2013 E. Račius in J. Nielsen Muslim Polit. Participation in Europe v. 94 So that the worse do not get elected, and the less bad gets elected.
†b. With the. The Devil. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > a devil > the Devil or Satan > [noun]
devileOE
Beelzebubc950
the foul ghosteOE
SatanOE
warlockOE
SatanasOE
worsea1200
unwinea1225
wondc1250
quedea1275
pucka1300
serpenta1300
dragon1340
shrew1362
Apollyon1382
the god of this worldc1384
Mahoundc1400
leviathan1412
worsta1425
old enemyc1449
Ruffin1567
dismal1570
Plotcocka1578
the Wicked One1582
goodman1603
Mahu1603
foul thief1609
somebody1609
legiona1616
Lord of Flies1622
walliman1629
shaitan1638
Old Nicka1643
Nick1647
unsel?1675
old gentleman1681
old boy1692
the gentleman in black1693
deuce1694
Black Spy1699
the vicious one1713
worricow1719
Old Roger1725
Lord of the Flies1727
Simmie1728
Old Scratch1734
Old Harry1777
Old Poker1784
Auld Hornie1786
old (auld), ill thief1789
old one1790
little-good1821
Tom Walker1833
bogy1840
diabolarch1845
Old Ned1859
iniquity1899
a1200 (?OE) MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 187 Iob..wan wið þe wurse.
a1275 Doomsday (Trin. Cambr.) in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 43 (MED) Þat makede þe worse, so woule he us ablende.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 5532 Þe Wurse [c1300 Otho þe Feond] hine luuede.
c. In plural. With possessive: a person's inferiors. Chiefly in ad hoc uses, after better n.1 2. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > socially inferior person > [noun] > collectively
vulgarsa1513
worsers1581
unconscionable1607
lower class1637
the lower orders1679
worses1857
lesser breeds1897
lower depths1902
1857 E. B. Browning Let. Aug. (1897) II. 271 Even Charles Reade was found too good, and the sale fell ten thousand in a few weeks on account of a serial tale of his, so he had to make place to his worses.
1873 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera III. xxviii. 9 Speaking to you, then, as workers, and of myself as an idler, tell me honestly whether you consider me as addressing my betters or my worses?
1873 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera III. xxviii. 18 The question whether you are the betters or the worses of your masters.
1990 S. Louvish Last Trump of Avram Blok i. 80 Your elders, your betters, your worses, your contemporaries, the government, the press, the pull, the stretch.
3. With the. The losing or less desirable part (in a contest or the like); disadvantage. Cf. sense A. 3b. Chiefly in Phrases 2b, Phrases 2d, Phrases 2e, and now only in to have (also get) the worse of at Phrases 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > [noun] > disadvantageous side of something
worsec1275
wrong side1719
short end1860
ass-endc1947
arse-end1958
downside1977
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13475 Bruttes wokeden þa & heore wes þat wurse.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 7760 Of þis batail þat was so snel þe wors [Vesp. force, Gött. fors] on kyng saul fel.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) i. 39 I byleue, yf the kynge beseege the castelle that the worsse shalle retourne vnto hym.
a1500 (?a1475) Guy of Warwick (Cambr. Ff.2.38) l. 11073 He þoght, þe warse went on hys syde.

Phrases

P1. Uses of the adjective.
a. worse and worse: worse in an increasing degree, progressively worse.
(a) In sense A. 2, with reference to harmfulness, unpleasantness, severity, etc.
ΚΠ
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) iv. xxxiii. 382 Ne ða tobeotiendan frecernesse ðam eagum mannes hond gehælan mihte ac a dæghwæmlice wæs wyrse & wyrse.
OE Wulfstan Deeds of Antichrist (Corpus Cambr.) 132 Þæt is gesyne, þy is ðeos woruld fram dæge to dæge wyrse & wyrse.
?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1137 Ðat lastede þa xix wintre wile Stephne was king, & æure it was uuerse & uuerse.
a1529 J. Skelton Why come ye nat to Courte (?1545) 132 Whyles he doth rule, All is warse and warse.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry IV Introd. f. iiv All thynges.., aswell in the realme as without, waxed worsse and worsse.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) v. ii. 98 Worse and worse, she will not come: Oh vilde, intollerable, not to be indur'd.
1682 London Gaz. No. 1760/2 The affairs of Hungary grow worse and worse.
1720 Lady B. Germaine Let. 17 Oct. in Countess of Suffolk Lett. (1824) I. 73 Worse and worse here every day—no soul left that we know but Lady Kit and Mrs. Coke.
1733 A. Pope Impertinent 10 So when you plague a Fool, 'tis still the Curse, You only make the Matter worse and worse.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. iii. 33 I have been patient, but it's growing worse and worse; flesh and blood can't bear it any longer.
1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay iv. 56 ‘This is worse and worse,’ said Lady Gethin, gravely.
1932 ‘E. M. Delafield’ Provinc. Lady goes Further (1998) 155 Weather gets worse and worse, Shipping Forecast reduces us all to despair..and gale rises hourly.
1971 L. Bangs in G. Marcus Psychotic Reactions (1987) 84 Their albums just got worse and worse.
2003 R. Liddle Too Beautiful for You (2004) 169 Everything seems to be conspiring to put me in a worse and worse mood.
(b) In sense A. 4, with reference to physical or mental condition.
ΚΠ
a1450 Ministry & Passion of Christ (St. John's Cambr.) (1984) l. 670 (MED) In lechis sche had ispended þat hire lefte no good, & euere sche was wers & wers.
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 11 Saturne thus felyng hym in grete sorow & trowble and alwey wors and wors as a fore is sayd.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. ccxix. 279 The kynge..lay sore sicke..and euery daye he enpayred worse and worse.
?1553 Respublica (1952) iv. iii. 35 Truelie I fele miselfe hitherto wurse and wurse.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iii. iv. 116 I pray you speake not: he growes worse & worse . View more context for this quotation
1668 S. Pepys Diary 30 Apr. (1976) IX. 180 My eyes, which are daily worse and worse, that I dare not write or read almost anything.
1701 tr. N. Andry Acct. Breeding Worms in Human Bodies iv. 104 They removed him into the Country, where he grew worse and worse.
1782 in D. Dalrymple Decisions Lords of Council & Session (1826) II. 908 The testator was long ill: he..grew worse and worse, but never reconvalesced.
1824 W. Irving Tales of Traveller I. 41 My uncle grew worse and worse, the more dosing and nursing he underwent.
1893 J. S. Balfour Story of Liberator Crash xiv. 34/1 By degrees she became worse and worse mentally, until at last I was compelled by the advice of the doctors..to allow her to be placed—oh!—in a lunatic asylum!!
1925 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 21 Feb. 344/2 These are most distressing cases, which, if left alone, tend to get worse and worse and finally die of tuberculosis, amyloid disease, or bronchopneumonia.
1985 T. C. Hindmarsh Cracked Wheat for Christmas iv. 44 She caught a bad cold. She got worse and worse until she had to go to bed and couldn't get back up.
2004 A. Brown tr. J. L. Crétien Ark of Speech ii. 31 He cannot hear very well, and indeed his hearing is getting worse and worse.
(c) In sense A. 1, with reference to immorality, wickedness, cruelty, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > moral or spiritual degeneration > increasingly worse [phrase]
worse and worsec1450
c1450 (c1415) in W. O. Ross Middle Eng. Serm. (1940) 255 (MED) Þe liff of þe Cristen pepull haþ ben euer wars and wars, as well in þe spirituallte as in þe temperalte.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Ecclus. iii. [26] He that is frowarde of hert wyll euer be the worse and worse.
1565 T. Harding Confut. Apol. Church of Eng. ii. vii. f. 66v That the wicked and wilfull folke..should..waxe worse and worse.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. Proem sig. M4 The world..Being once amisse growes daily wourse and wourse . View more context for this quotation
1622 W. Whately Gods Husbandry (new ed.) ii. xvi. 136 We shall grow worse and worse, euen from ought to nought, as the Prouerbe speaketh.
1650 J. Burroughs et al. Expos. 4th, 5th, 6th, & 7th Chapters Hosea (vi. 1) 637 So saith God, so many waies and means have I used to do them good,..and nothing doth them good, but they grow worse and worse, then the sinnes of Ephraim did break forth, the sins of the Court they work out: and the sins of Samaria..shew themselves.
1715 D. Defoe Family Instructor I. i. i. 12 They always grow worse and worse, till they grow meer Reprobates.
1805 S. T. Coleridge Coll. Lett. (1956) II. 1162 W. Taylor grows worse and worse. As to his political dogmata, concerning Egypt &c, God forgive him!
1887 T. K. Cheyne Job & Solomon 202 Bad as things are, he does not believe that the world is getting worse and worse..he is a ‘malist’.
1914 J. S. Hartzler in D. Kauffman Bible Doctr. ii. iii. 178 This does not mean necessarily that conditions have been getting ‘worse and worse’ from Adam's time to the present, and that there is no good in the world.
1991 J. Marsden Lett. from Inside (2001) 120 Anyhow, I got worse and worse. I ended up known as the local slut, head-banger, low-life, all of which didn't bother me.
2013 P. B. Barry Evil & Moral Psychol. i. 17 As this elevator descends, it moves past levels populated by worse and worse sorts of people until it arrives at the basement, home to the morally worst sort of people.
b.
(a) so much the worse: used to indicate (sometimes dismissively) that a previously mentioned action, event, situation, etc., will have unfortunate or regrettable consequences. Also: used more generally to express regret, pity, frustration, etc., esp. with regard to a previous statement.
ΚΠ
?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 151, in Middle Eng. Dict. at Wers(e Ȝif þat þe member þat is hurte be febel, so muche þe werse.
a1593 C. Marlowe Jew of Malta (1633) ii. sig. E1 Bar. Tell me, hast thou thy health well? Ith. I, passing well. Bar. So much the worse; I must haue one that's sickly.
1695 J. Collier Misc. upon Moral Subj. 5 You say it [sc. Fame] produces Heroes; so much the worse. 'Twas well if there were fewer of them.
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey II. 113 If there is not a fund of honest cullability in man, so much the worse.
1818 Star 28 Feb. There was no open spirit of insurrection, but an infected and poisoned state of society—so much the worse, for then Government were exposed to the odium of arresting individuals at random.
1851 C. Brontë Let. in E. C. Gaskell Life C. Brontë (1857) II. ix. 209 It would be no shame for a person of my means to wear a cheaper thing..if you..call it ‘trumpery’ so much the worse.
1907 F. M. Crawford Arethusa iii. 43 He says plainly that until you can make up your mind, we shall have only the three pennies he gives us every day, and if your mother dies, so much the worse.
1969 Drama Rev. 14 72 If our seed fall upon stone, so much the worse. Even this does not free us from our duty.
2012 Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) 23 Oct. (Sports section) 4 b/1 Wind-driven waves disrupt boat control and can present a safety hazard. If the wind's out of the east, of course, so much the worse.
(b) so much the worse for ——: used dismissively to indicate that a previously mentioned action, decision, or situation will have (or has had) negative consequences for the person (or occasionally the thing) specified. Also: used more generally to express disdain, criticism, or hostility towards the person or thing specified.Cf. so much the better for —— at better adj., n.1, and adv. Phrases 4b.
ΚΠ
1585 T. Bilson True Difference Christian Subiection iv. 704 Phi. S. Paul sayth the Gentiles did sacrifice their meates to the diuel. Theo. So much the worse for those Christians that did eat them.
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner ii. iv. xxiii. 32 These kind of Stumps and Hooks will not please our Gard'ners at first... But if, after having known my Reasons, and long Experience, they will neither approve, or try them, so much the worse for them.
1732 H. Baker & J. Miller tr. Molière Cit turn'd Gentleman iii. xii. 143 in Sel. Comedies II If your Father was a Tradesman, so much the worse for him; but as for mine, they are Num-sculls that say he was.
1790 By-stander 25 If the sister throws any rub in my way, so much the worse for her.
1843 Edinb. Rev. Jan. 255/1 In the true spirit of that philosophy which disposes of facts with a contemptuous sneer—so much the worse for facts—Mr. Sewell only notices the ignorance of baptized Christians.
1870 J. H. Newman Ess. Gram. Assent ii. x. 398 If logic finds fault with it, so much the worse for logic.
1881 M. E. Braddon Asphodel II. 6 If you have not profited by my outlay, so much the worse for you.
1886 N. H. Dole tr. L. Tolstoy Anna Karénina ii. xxvi. 213 You have not been willing to have an understanding with me; so much the worse for you.
1935 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 24 Mar. 18/3 Undesirable citizens..are warned to leave the city and the State. If they refuse to leave, so much the worse for them.
1951 Bull. Atomic Scientists Dec. 376/1 If men like this are scared away from physics by the threat of loyalty checks, so much the worse for the country that does it.
2015 Dominion Post (Wellington, N.Z.) (Nexis) 2 Feb. (Features section) 6 If protocol requires these empty rituals, so much the worse for protocol.
c. to be worse than one's word: to fail to carry out, or act up to, what one has promised. Often in negative constructions, as to be no worse than one's word: to fulfil one's promise; cf. to be better than one's word at better adj., n.1, and adv. Phrases 11. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > do nothing [verb (intransitive)] > fail to do something > fail to carry out what has been promised
to be worse than one's word1652
the mind > language > speech > agreement > observance > non-observance or breach > break one's promise [phrase]
to be worse than one's word1652
1652 N. Culpeper Eng. Physician 245 I come now to perform what I promised, and you shall finde me rather better than worse than my word.
1672 W. Wycherley Love in Wood v. v. 89 Will you be worse then your word?
1715 D. Defoe Family Instructor I. i. viii. 163 I will not be worse than my word to my Lady.
1744 J. J. Hornyold Decalogue Explain'd iv. iii. 179 God has promised it, his Word is engaged for it, and he will not, he cannot, be worse than his Word.
1826 J. Galt Last of Lairds xxxix. 352 Mrs. Soorocks was not worse than her word, for [etc.].
1896 W. Morris Well at World's End I. xvi. 250 Old Richard was no worse than his word, and failed not to find old acquaintance of Swevenham in the Saturday's market.
1935 Mod. Lang. Notes 50 149 He would not be willing to advertise till he was ready to publish ‘lest any dislike to the work, or other accident’ should make him worse than his word!
d. the worse for: overcome or intoxicated by (liquor, drink); drunk. Chiefly in the worse for drink. Also in extended use. Also (Scottish and Irish English (northern)) the worse of.Cf. the worse for wear at wear n. 1b.
ΚΠ
1714 in A. Lowe Vindic. Church of Scotl. 55 He observed in Mr. Dugud such Evidences of his being the worse for Drink, that were both offensive and surprizing to him.
1794 G. Hawley Let. 31 July in H. Hastings Eccl. Rec. State N.Y. (1905) V. 3400 I never saw him the worse for strong drink.
1834 F. Marryat Jacob Faithful I. i. 7 My mother had retired to her bed, a little the worse for liquor.
1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch II. iv. xxxix. 316 When a man..has..made himself the worse for liquor, he's done enough mischief for one day.
1881 J. B. Gough Sunlight & Shadow 266 Who ever saw me the worse for drink?
1885 R. L. Stevenson Prince Otto iii. ii. 268 To tell you the open truth, your Highness, I was the worse of drink.
1913 Spectator 24 May 874/1 A learned judge said of Mr. Gladstone that he was often ‘the worse’ for flattery.
1976 Dumfries & Galloway Standard 25 Dec. 13/8 I was the worse of drink and did not know what I was doing.
1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 394/1 The worse of drink, the worse for drink, drunk.
2002 J. McGahern That they may face Rising Sun (2003) 63 Patrick was the worse for drink and in foul humour.
e. to make matters (or things) worse, to make it worse: (in the infinitive, as a parenthetical phrase) to cause an already awkward, unsatisfactory, or distressing situation to deteriorate further; to encounter the specified circumstance as an additional difficulty, disadvantage, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > severity > become more severe [verb (intransitive)] > make a situation more severe
to make matters (or things) worse1715
1715 J. Oldmixon Mem. North-Brit. 224 The Memoir-Writer, to make Matters worse on the Side of the Government than they were, says [etc.].
1791 tr. R. de Paradés Secret Mem. 113 To make matters worse, at six o'clock M. de Cordova gave the signal of having discovered a fleet the leeward.
1861 C. Dickens Great Expectations I. xiii. 223 In the minds of the whole company..I was an excrescence on the entertainment. And to make it worse, they all asked me from time to time..why I didn't enjoy myself.
1903 J. London Call of Wild iv. 115 The dogs were tired, the drivers grumbling, and to make matters worse, it snowed every day.
1987 C. Phillips European Tribe Introd. 8 My appetite for academic study was gone, and to make things worse it was the transitory season of autumn.
2015 Daily Tel. 6 Mar. 17/2 To make matters worse, the break-in appears not to be the work of a rival intelligence service, but of petty thieves looking to steal bathroom-ware.
f. colloquial. —— would be none (also would not be) the worse for: —— would be all the better for, or would be improved by (the specified addition or change).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [phrase]
—— would be none (also would not be) the worse for1795
up a gear1971
1795 G. Washington Let. 7 June in Writings (1940) XXXIV. 212 If the floors above them, were of Inch and quarter pine, they would not be the worse for it.
1830 Imperial Mag. Dec. 1122/2 Why, I must confess, Terence, our own prospects would be none the worse for such an addition.
1839 F. A. Kemble Jrnl. Resid. Georgian Plantation (1863) 20 Their allowance of rice and Indian meal would not be the worse for such additions.
1910 G. K. Chesterton What's Wrong with World iii. xii. 176 Thinking that she would be none the worse for a ballot paper.
2008 R. Swinburne in M. W. F. Stone Reason, Faith & Hist. iv. 71 Any world which God could make to which you add such creatures would be none the worse for such an addition.
P2. Uses in which the noun is the direct or indirect object of a verb.
a. to do worse: to behave more wickedly, badly, foolishly, etc.; (also) with indirect object or to, to deal with or treat (a person) more harshly or unkindly.Originally (in Old English) construed with the adverb: see worse adv. 1a and compare worse adv. 1b. Early examples given here are ambiguous as adverb and use of the neuter adjective as a noun are generally not distinguished in form even in early Middle English; however, in the very earliest examples (especially quots. ?a11601, ?a11602) the inflectional final -e may indicate the neuter accusative of the adjective used as noun (compare discussion in etymology at worse adv.). In later use of this phrase in the context of wicked or reprehensible conduct, the word is usually understood as the noun; cf. to do worse at worse adv. Phrases 4, in which worse is used adverbially in the context of doing less well or being less fortunate. Cf. also to do good at good adj., n., adv., and int. Phrases 2d(a).
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > act wrongly or immorally [verb (intransitive)] > worse
to do worse?a1160
?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1137 Næure hethen men werse ne diden þan hi diden.
?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1140 He..dide þanne wærse þanne he hær sculde.
a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) 223 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 226 Werse he doð his gode wines þan his fiendes.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 1408 Hweþer deþ wurse, flesch þe gost.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14565 Gurmunddes mon he bicom ne mihte he na wurse don. for Crist seolue he for-soc.
c1400 (c1382) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 250 Why schulde noȝt men now reprove popes, ȝif þei don now wersse?
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Squire's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 592 [Who] kan seyn bet than he, who kan don werse?
a1450 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Lamb.) (1887) i. 8696 Syn þey had mercy & pyte, Wirse þan þey, schul nought do we.
?a1534 H. Medwall Nature ii. sig. fii In good fayth syr ye may do wurs.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Jer. iii. 5 Thou speakest soch wordes, but thou art euer doinge worse, and worse.
1573 T. Cooper Briefe Expos. f. 338v They haue not followed the Corruptions of Sodome and Samaria a little, but..in all wickednesse and Abhomination they had done Worse, and farre passed them.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. ii. 72 To do worse to you, were fell Cruelty. View more context for this quotation
1680 Earl of Rochester et al. Poems 14 Much Wine had past with grave discourse, Of who Fucks who, and who does worse.
1710 Some Refl. Prerogatives Power & Protection St. Joseph 183 Excuse the Intention, conclude it accidental, and fear you would have done worse, in the like Circumstances.
1774 S. Johnson Let. 4 July in J. Boswell Life (1791) I. 437 I have done worse to Lord Hailes than by neglecting his sheets: I have run him in debt.
1823 J. Galt Entail III. xii. 115 There is no such heart-scalding insolence as in refusing a solicitation, to refer the suppliant to others, and with prudential admonitions too—curse him who would beg, were it not to avoid doing worse.
1864 C. Mackay Stud. from Antique 113 Unless they do worse, and out-babble The preachers of bloodshed and hatred.
1970 N. Bawden Birds on Trees (1991) x. 176 But she must have done worse in her life! Why was it always the small things that rose up to reproach you?
1994 Daily Mail (Nexis) 1 June 23 I was very hopeful until I saw the draw—Colonel Collins is at one and Pencader is 25. They couldn't have done us worse.
2013 Stanford Law Rev. May 1095 Valjean has done worse and had worse done to him.
b. to have (also get) the worse and variants: to be worsted or defeated in a contest; to have the disadvantage in a comparison, bargain, etc., with another. Also (and now only) in to have (also get) the worse of (a contest, encounter, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defeat > be defeated [verb (intransitive)]
to have (also get) the worsec1275
leesec1300
to lick the dust, the earth1382
to get (also have) the waura1393
to go downa1400
to go away (also flee) with the worsea1413
to have the worsta1470
to go to (also unto) the worse1485
to go by the worse (also worst)1528
to have the overthrow1536
lose1548
tine1681
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > be disadvantageous [verb (intransitive)] > have disadvantage
to have (also get) the worsec1275
to have (also get, etc.) the better (or worse) end of the staff1542
disprofit1561
the worst end of the bargain (also stick, staff, etc.)1564
to have the wrong end of the stick?1793
the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > defeat or overthrow > be defeated or overthrown [verb (intransitive)] > be defeated or lose
to have (also get) the worsec1275
leesec1300
lose1548
to deserve or lose the bell1600
to have the lower hand1693
to have the second best1708
to come off second best1777
skunk1867
to be dumped on1967
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13332 Þa iwræð sone þat Bruttes hafden þat wurse [c1300 Otho worse].
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 7353 (MED) Wicke is to stryve and have the worse.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. 15619 Þat werre bigan, þe wars had, Penda partie alle to schad.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 490 Yow loueris axe I now this questioun Who hath the worse [c1410 Cambr. Dd.4.24 werse], Arcite or Palamoun.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 349 Sir Gawayne and sir Trystrams mett; and there sir Gawayne had the worse.
c1475 tr. C. de Pisan Livre du Corps de Policie (Cambr.) (1977) 162 They of Macedonie, whiche doubted to haue the wers of the bataille, departed out of the hoste.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin iii. 56 In that bataile was grete mortalite on bothe parties, but the hethen peple hadde moche the werse.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. v. sig. Q6 Was neuer man, who most conquestes atchieu'd But sometimes had the worse, and lost by warre.
1644 G. S. True Relation Sad Passages Armies in West 3 In all which Skirmishes the Enemy had the worse; till the Enemy at last grew numerous.
1669 S. Patrick Contin. Friendly Deb. 162 I wonder who will have the worse of it, you or they?
1690 J. Dryden Don Sebastian Ded. sig. A3v The latter, in all respects, will not have the worse of the comparison.
1697 W. Wynne et al. tr. Caradoc of Llancarvan Hist. Wales 236 After a warm Engagement on both sides, Rhys Fychan in the end got the worse.
1711 J. Swift Conduct of Allies 91 There is hardly a Town taken in the common Forms, where the Besiegers have not the worse of the Bargain.
1860 E. Eden Semi-attached Couple iv Perhaps the instinct that always leads a man to foresee when an impending explanation is not likely to end in his favour, prompted him to divine that he should have the worse of this.
1888 C. Oman Hist. Greece (1901) xv. 142 A running fight ensued, in which the invaders had greatly the worse.
1924 W. Rogers in S. K. Gragert & M. J. Johansson Papers Will Rogers (2005) IV. 364 I got the worse of it last week.
1943 Studies 32 181 The Austrians, though they had the worse of the encounter, fought far better than had been expected.
1979 Studia Islamica 50 10 At the battle of Uḥud the Muslims had the worse of their exchanges with the Meccans.
2010 D. Daube Law & Wisdom in Bible II. vi. 115 It is just as likely the unhappy occurrence was the fault of your ox, though he had the worse of it, as of mine.
c. to choose (also take) the worse and leave (also scorn) the better and variants: to select or opt for the less favourable, advantageous, or attractive of two available options. Also to choose the worse while knowing the better and variants.Often in proverbial use.
ΚΠ
a1300 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 74 (MED) Ne doþ he, mayde, on vuele dede, þat may cheose of two þat on, & he wile wiþ-vte neode take þet wurse, þe betere let gon?
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 28 It is a greet synne of two þingis to chese þe worse, whan a man may as freely have þe betere as þe worse.
a1500 (?c1400) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 184 (MED) He is a miche fool þat leeveþ þe bettere and chesiþ þe werse.
1658 E. Hyde Christ & his Church 189 Is it not folly in me to leave the better and take the worse?
1779 Trial by Proxy p. viii You scorn the better, choose the worse.
1876 J. B. Bittinger Three Gardens ii. 35 Henceforth, do not choose the worse. Do not choose the worse, when you know the better!
1966 M. Pohlenz Freedom in Greek Life & Thought 71 A man who follows his sudden impulses is likely to choose the worse rather than the better.
2004 Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Mass.) (Nexis) 10 Nov. Biblical morality is about man's sad proclivity, while knowing the better, to choose the worse.
†d. to go to (also unto) the worse: to be defeated or worsted, to fail. Similarly to go away (also flee) with the worse and variants. Obsolete.to go by the worse: see to go by —— 2 at go v. Phrasal verbs 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defeat > be defeated [verb (intransitive)]
to have (also get) the worsec1275
leesec1300
to lick the dust, the earth1382
to get (also have) the waura1393
to go downa1400
to go away (also flee) with the worsea1413
to have the worsta1470
to go to (also unto) the worse1485
to go by the worse (also worst)1528
to have the overthrow1536
lose1548
tine1681
the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > defeat or overthrow > be defeated or overthrown [verb (intransitive)]
fallOE
to come (also go) to the groundc1175
confusec1330
to go away (also flee) with the worsea1413
to go to (also unto) the worse1485
to go to the wall (or walls)1549
foil1591
to go to the posta1624
to have had one's chips1959
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iv. l. 49 The folk of Troye hem seluen so mysledden That with þe worse at nyght homward þey fledden.
1485 Malory's Morte Darthur (Caxton) i. ix. sig. aviv Fyghte not with the swerde that ye had by myracle, til that ye see ye go vnto the wers.
?1533 W. Tyndale Expos. Mathew vii. f. civ Which handes, if thou for werynes once let falle, thou goest to the worsse immediatlye.
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 229 The souldiers of Athens..disdained also to serue with the others souldiers that had bene beaten many times, & went away with the worse.
1591 H. Savile tr. Tacitus Ende of Nero: Fower Bks. Hist. ii. 67 In those ordinary bickerings..he commonly went to the worse.
1591 H. Savile tr. Tacitus Life Agricola in tr. Tacitus Ende of Nero: Fower Bks. Hist. 251 Now sommer and winter alike they went to the worse [L. tum aestate atque hieme iuxta pellebantur].
1632 P. Holland tr. Xenophon Cyrupædia i. 12 Went he any time away with the worse? very pleasant he was and laughed at himselfe most of all.
†e. to put to (also at, unto) the (also one's) worse: to defeat or discomfit in a contest or conflict. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > victory > make victorious [verb (transitive)] > conquer or overcome
overcomeeOE
shendc893
awinc1000
overwinOE
overheaveOE
to lay downa1225
mate?c1225
discomfitc1230
win1297
dauntc1300
cumber1303
scomfit1303
fenkc1320
to bear downc1330
confoundc1330
confusec1330
to do, put arrear1330
oversetc1330
vanquishc1330
conquerc1374
overthrowc1375
oppressc1380
outfighta1382
to put downa1382
discomfortc1384
threshc1384
vencuea1400
depressc1400
venque?1402
ding?a1425
cumrayc1425
to put to (also at, unto) the (also one's) worsec1425
to bring or put to (or unto) utterance1430
distrussc1430
supprisec1440
ascomfita1450
to do stress?c1450
victorya1470
to make (win) a conquest1477
convanquish1483
conquest1485
defeat1485
oversailc1485
conques1488
discomfish1488
fulyie1488
distress1489
overpress1489
cravent1490
utter?1533
to give (a person) the overthrow1536
debel1542
convince1548
foil1548
out-war1548
profligate1548
proflige?c1550
expugnate1568
expugn1570
victor1576
dismay1596
damnify1598
triumph1605
convict1607
overman1609
thrash1609
beat1611
debellate1611
import1624
to cut to (or in) pieces1632
maitrise1636
worst1636
forcea1641
outfight1650
outgeneral1767
to cut up1803
smash1813
slosh1890
ream1918
hammer1948
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > have or gain mastery or superiority over [verb (transitive)] > overcome or defeat
shendc893
overwinOE
overheaveOE
mate?c1225
to say checkmatea1346
vanquishc1366
stightlea1375
outrayc1390
to put undera1393
forbeat1393
to shave (a person's) beardc1412
to put to (also at, unto) the (also one's) worsec1425
adawc1440
supprisec1440
to knock downc1450
to put to the worsta1475
waurc1475
convanquish1483
to put out1485
trima1529
convince1548
foil1548
whip1571
evict1596
superate1598
reduce1605
convict1607
defail1608
cast1610
banga1616
evince1620
worst1646
conquer1655
cuffa1657
trounce1657
to ride down1670
outdo1677
routa1704
lurcha1716
fling1790
bowl1793
lick1800
beat1801
mill1810
to row (someone) up Salt River1828
defeat1830
sack1830
skunk1832
whop1836
pip1838
throw1850
to clean out1858
take1864
wallop1865
to sock it to1877
whack1877
to clean up1888
to beat out1893
to see off1919
to lower the boom on1920
tonk1926
clobber1944
ace1950
to run into the ground1955
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) v. l. 15 (MED) Þe myȝti Grekis..Put her fomen fully at þe worse.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 699 Other on horsebak othir ellys on foote he put me ever to the wars.
?1482 J. Kay in tr. G. Caoursin Siege of Rhodes But ther he was put to hys worse & to shame.
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Pessundo, to cast vnder foote, to put to the warse.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. I. 329 For euer, if they chaunced to skirmishe, the Frenchmen were put vnto the worse.
1584 H. Llwyd & D. Powel Hist. Cambria 9 When he had by the space of ten yeares warred with diuers Kings, and often put them to the woorse.
1606 G. W. tr. Justinus Hist. iv. 22 He was twice put vnto the worse [ iv. iv. 9 duobus proeliis victus].
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Chron. vi. 24 If thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy. View more context for this quotation
1644 J. Milton Areopagitica 35 Who ever knew Truth put to the wors, in a free and open encounter.
1702 S. Patrick Comm. Judges, Josh. & Ruth (Josh. vii. 1) 73 What a condition would they have been in, if all the People had been put to the worse.
1787 T. Craig Three Serm. iii. 46 It is no unusual thing even for believers themselves to be afraid of death, and the displeasure of God, especially when they consider the power of in-dwelling sin, and how often they are put to the worse by it.
1837 N. L. Frothingham Duties of Hard Times 5 But the tribes had been put to the worse before the enemy they had often repelled.
1919 Mod. Philol. 17 84 Perlesvaus' uncle..told him when put to the worse to mount upon the mule.
†f. to wring to the worse: to vex, distress. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > suffer (adversity or affliction) [verb (transitive)] > afflict
overharryeOE
aileOE
swencheOE
besetOE
traya1000
teenOE
to work (also do) (a person) woeOE
derve?c1225
grieve1297
harrya1300
noyc1300
travailc1300
to work (also do) annoyc1300
wrath14..
aggrievea1325
annoya1325
tribula1325
to hold wakenc1330
anguish1340
distrainc1374
wrap1380
strain1382
ermec1386
afflicta1393
cumbera1400
assayc1400
distressc1400
temptc1400
encumber1413
labour1437
infortune?a1439
stressa1450
trouble1489
arraya1500
constraina1500
attempt1525
misease1530
exercise1531
to hold or keep waking1533
try1539
to wring to the worse1542
pinch1548
affligec1550
trounce1551
oppress1555
inflict1566
overharl1570
strait1579
to make a martyr of1599
straiten1611
tribulatea1637
to put through the hoop(s)1919
snooter1923
the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > cause mental pain or suffering to [verb (transitive)]
heavyc897
pineeOE
aileOE
sorryeOE
traya1000
sorrowOE
to work (also do) (a person) woeOE
angerc1175
smarta1200
to work, bake, brew balec1200
derve?c1225
grieve?c1225
sitc1225
sweam?c1225
gnawc1230
sughc1230
troublec1230
aggrievea1325
to think sweama1325
unframea1325
anguish1340
teen1340
sowa1352
distrainc1374
to-troublea1382
strain1382
unglad1390
afflicta1393
paina1393
distressa1400
hita1400
sorea1400
assayc1400
remordc1400
temptc1400
to sit (or set) one sorec1420
overthrow?a1425
visit1424
labour1437
passionc1470
arraya1500
constraina1500
misgrievea1500
attempt1525
exagitate1532
to wring to the worse1542
toil1549
lament1580
adolorate1598
rankle1659
try1702
to pass over ——1790
upset1805
to touch (also get, catch, etc.) (a person) on the raw1823
to put (a person) through it1855
bludgeon1888
to get to ——1904
to put through the hoop(s)1919
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes ii. f. 295 To wryng hym to the wurse with dynte of sweorde.
1553 R. Ascham Rep. Affaires Germany in Wks. (1904) 133 Octauio was euermore wrong to the worse by many and sundry spites.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxvii. 155 The poore child is wrung to the worse in the meane while, and the parent receiues small comfort in conclusion.
†g. to come to (also off with) the worse: = to go to the worse at Phrases 2d. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1597 T. Beard Theatre Gods Iudgements i. xxi. 95 As truth got euer the vpper hand,..so the brochers and vpholders of falshood came euer to the worse.
1632 T. Taylor God's Judgem. (1642) i. i. xvi. 57 His owne side came to the worse, doing more scath to themselves, than to their enemies.
1674 C. Cotton tr. B. de Montluc Commentaries iii. 121 Skirmishes..so disadvantageous to us, that we always came off with the worse.
1700 tr. G. de Courtilz de Sandras French Spy i. 13 The populace..flock'd together to the assistance of their Country-men, who were like to come to the worse, several of their Companions being slain by the Portugeses.
1832 T. Carlyle tr. G. Sauerteig in Fraser's Mag. Apr. 256 Our mind is divided in twain: there is contest; wherein that which is weaker must needs come to the worse.
1891 W. Morris & E. Magnusson tr. Story Howard the Halt 65 Meseemeth they have come to the worse, losing many of their men and honour withal.
P3. Uses of the noun with a preposition.
a. for (also †to, †into) the worse: indicating a negative change in condition or quality, fortune, or circumstances.In quot. OE in to worse in the same sense.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > in adversity [phrase] > at the or one's worst > from a prosperous or thriving condition
for (also to, into) the worseOE
out of God's blessing into the warm sun1546
down (the) wind1600
on (also, esp. in early use, upon) the go1682
to the bad1802
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > disadvantageously [phrase]
on wiðereOE
for (also to, into) the worse1548
OE King Ælfred tr. Psalms (Paris) (2001) xlv. 5 Gehwyrfed wæs ure land and ure folc to beteran, and hi and heora land to wyrsan.
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 113 Þe iournee chaunged efter to þe werse.
1548 W. Forrest Pleasaunt Poesye 352 in T. Starkey Eng. in Reign King Henry VIII (1878) i. p. xcv The worlde is chaunged from that it hathe beene, Not to the bettre, but to the warsse farre.
1572 Treat. Treasons against Q. Elizabeth ii. f. 148v These be ynough, I trow, to shew it a change, and a change for the woorse.
1620 Horæ Subseciuæ 319 Honor nourisheth in light and vain men a wrong opinion of their own worth, and consequently, often changeth their manners into the worse.
1668 J. Dryden Secret-love iii. i. 25 All we have done succeeds still to the worse.
a1712 W. King Let. in Wks. (1776) III. 272 It is thy curse Ever to change, and ever for the worse.
1790 R. Burns in J. Johnson Scots Musical Museum III. 248 I trow we swapped for the warse.
1835 T. Mitchell in tr. Aristophanes Acharnians 263 (note) The Doric character generally was undergoing a most important change for the worse.
1860 W. Collins Woman in White (1974) 416 She was certainly not in any respect altered for the worse since I had seen her last.
1956 A. Huxley Heaven & Hell (1960) 108 For them, as for the positive visionary, the universe it transfigured—but for the worse.
1988 H. Mantel Eight Months on Ghazzah Street (1989) 19 Life had changed for the worse.
2006 H. O'Neill Lullabies for Little Criminals 29 Jules told me that he was taking a turn for the worse and that he was going to be in the hospital longer than we'd thought.
b. for better or (also for, or for) worse: used where an issue or outcome is doubtful or beyond human control; (hence also) expressing commitment to a course of action regardless of what may happen, esp. in the context of marriage vows (cf. quot. c1403). to better and to worse (in quot. c1450): to whatever may happen.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [adverb] > for better or worse
for better or (also for, or for) worsea1393
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. l. 673 (MED) For bet, for wers, for oght, for noght, Sche passeth nevere fro my thoght.
c1403 in W. G. Henderson Manuale & Processionale Ecclesiæ Eboracensis (1875) xvi (MED) I take ye to my wedded housband, to hald and to haue..for fayrer, for layther, for better, for wers, in sekenes and in hele, till dede ws depart.
c1450 (a1400) Chevalere Assigne l. 244 in W. H. French & C. B. Hale Middle Eng. Metrical Romances (1930) 868 I woll putte my body to better and to worse To fyȝte for þe Qwene.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) III. 1173 The[y] were all condiscended that, for bettir othir for wars..shortely they all wolde rescow here.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. lixv And so for better or worse, the Frencheman called the Englisheman knaue, and went awaye with the stockdoues.
1639 J. Clarke Paroemiologia 122 For better for worse.
1662 H. Foulis Hist. Wicked Plots Pref. sig. A4 As for the Style, you must do with it as Men do with their Wives, take it as you find it, for better or for worse.
1710 New Ballad, to Tune of Packington's Pound (single sheet) (verso) Sure we never took up our Opinions for Life, For better, for worse, as a Man takes his Wife.
1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker II. 208 A young lady..who agreed to take me for better nor worse.
1848 C. Dickens Dombey & Son lix. 588 Mr. Towlinson..informs the kitchen..that him and Anne have now resolved to take one another for better for worse.
1871 S. Smiles Character i. 10 Character is undergoing constant change, for better or for worse.
1905 H. W. Boynton Bret Harte 85 He had also, for better or worse, a decided instinct to invest human nature..with certain attributes of ideal grace.
1970 P. Berton National Dream i. vi. 45 He helped change the course of the railway and thus, for better or for worse, the very shape of Canada.
2015 E. Wood My Secret Rockstar Boyfriend 298 Even if you're not a tabloid reader, it is of course all preserved on the Internet, for better or worse.
c.
(a) from bad (also †evil, †ill, †wick) to worse: indicating the deterioration of an already bad situation or condition.Sometimes paired with from worse to worst at Phrases 3c(b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > in adversity [phrase] > at the or one's worst > progressively worse
from bad (also evil, ill, wick) to worsea1425
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Corpus Cambr. 61) (1895) iv. l. 840 Fro wikke [a1413 Pierpont Morgan wo] I go to worse.
1481 W. Caxton tr. Myrrour of Worlde ii. xviii. sig. h1v Ffor he goth euer from euyl to werse.
c1510 Of Euyll Tonges But an yll tonge so brode renneth the sounde Fro bad to worse and so myscheef spedys.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. viii. sig. Kiiv Suche dryftes draue he, from yll to wars and wars.
1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie 4th Serm. sig. Mviiv He by vnrepentaunce fel from euyll to worse, and from worse, to worste of al.
1550 T. Lever Fruitfull Serm. in Shroudes sig. B.viiiiv You whych haue gotten these goodes into your own handes, to turne them from euyll to worse.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Feb. 12 Must not the world wend in his commun course From good to badd, and from badde to worse, From worse vnto that is worst of all..?
1639 J. Taylor Part Summers Trav. 43 You draw us from bad to worse, and from worse to worst.
1649 C. Wase tr. Sophocles Electra 38 See then lest Bad enough to Worse advance.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xii. 106 Thus will this latter, as the former World, Still tend from bad to worse . View more context for this quotation
1740 S. Richardson Pamela I. xxvi*. 85 How easy it is to go from bad to worse, when once People give way to Vice.
1789 T. Jefferson Let. 15 Mar. in Papers (1958) XIV. 660 They are in constant progression from bad to worse.
1840 J. H. Frere Knights 83 His nastiness and lewdness, going on from bad to worse.
1894 E. Œ. Somerville & ‘M. Ross’ Real Charlotte I. vii. 87 The land went from bad to worse.
1925 S. Fitzgerald Great Gatsby (1974) i. 30 Things went from bad to worse, until finally he had to give up his position.
1961 Bible (New Eng.) 2 Tim. iii. 13 Wicked men and charlatans will make progress from bad to worse.
2006 In the Know 10 Oct. 16/3 But the situation went from bad to worse as Vicky chased her losses.
(b) from worse to worst (also from worse to worst of all) and variants: indicating even further deterioration in a very bad situation or condition; often used as an intensifying addition to from bad to worse at Phrases 3c(a).
ΚΠ
1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie 4th Serm. sig. Mviiv He by vnrepentaunce fel from euyll to worse, and from worse, to worste of al.
1572 T. Drant Fruitfull Serm. conc. Almes Geuing sig. C.vii And now this question groweth from bitter to bitterer, from worme woodde to gall, From worse to worste.
1639 J. Taylor Part Summers Trav. 43 You draw us from bad to worse, and from worse to worst.
1716 A. Smith School of Venus 215 Going forward in Mischief, from bad to worse, and from worse to worst of all.
1829 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. May 583/2 Matters went from bad to worse, and from worse to worst, for nearly three months.
1919 Times of India 7 Aug. 5/1 The streets have gone from bad to worse, and from worse to worst.
2000 Washington Post 31 Oct. d7/2 It went from worse to worst on the last play of the half.
†d. to judge to the worse: to judge disadvantageously or unfavourably. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. Rom. xiv. f. xxxix Take heede that no man iudge others actes to the worse [L. nec alius alium judicet in malum].
e. to differ for the worse: to differ to one's disadvantage; to compare badly.
ΚΠ
1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ vii. 109 These are the most usual ways of Grafting, some other there are, but they differ so little from the former, and where they differ its rather for the worse, and therefore not worthy the mentioning.
1690 W. Harris Remarks Affairs & Trade Eng. & Ireland iii. 32 When those made in Ireland came to be compared with the true Colchester Bayes in Spain, they differed so much for the worse, that on a sudden the Irish Weavers lost their Trade.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iv. iv. 53 He said, I differed indeed from other Taboos, being much more cleanly, and not altogether so deformed, but in point of real Advantage, he thought I differed for the worse.
1779 S. Johnson Lives Eng. Poets I. 200 If they differ from the verses of others, they differ for the worse.
1831 R. Jones Ess. Distrib. Wealth v. 147 Cottier rents, then, evidently differ for the worse in this respect from serf and metayer rents.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xi. 83 The situation of the Quaker differed from that of other dissenters, and differed for the worse.
1915 N. Amer. Rev. Jan. 42 The Will to Power does not perceptibly differ from the Will to Live, or, if it does, it differs for the worse, as being a less universal concept.
1965 Harvard Law Rev. 78 1516 If the mental hospital to which the blameless one is dispatched differs at all from a penitentiary, it differs for the worse.
2004 R. J. Taylor et al. Relig. in Lives of Afr. Amer. viii. 190 The health profile of African Americans, on average, differs for the worse from that of U.S. whites.
P4. a fate worse than death: see death n. Phrases 7. to go by the worse: see to go by —— 2 at go v. Phrasal verbs 2. worse things happen at sea: see sea n. 10c.

Compounds

C1. Parasynthetic, as worse-natured, worse-tempered adjs.
ΚΠ
1577 N. Breton Wks. Young Wyt f. 32 A man wurse naturde then a beast.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iv. ii. 20 Ill-fac'd, worse bodied, shapelesse euery where.
1660 R. Allestree Gentlemans Calling 143 These differ from the former..as a worse Natured Fool from a better.
1747 S. Richardson Clarissa I. ii. 10 My poor sister is not naturally good-humour'd... She must therefore..have appear'd to great disadvantage, when she aim'd to be worse-temper'd than ordinary.
1873 L. O. Pike Hist. Crime II. vii. 138 Whether the better or the worse natured woman became the reputed witch.
1921 Forum Jan. 37 On Armistice Day in London some of the decent women of that City spanked Sylvia Pankhurst's ill-mannered and worse-principled crew.
2016 Guardian (Nexis) 31 May Jon Snow has said he cannot remember a ‘worse-tempered or more abusive, more boring UK campaign’ than that for the EU referendum.
C2.
worse-case adj. that is or relates to the worse of two possibilities.worst-case is the more usual term: see worst adj. and n. Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1962 Nucl. Sci. Abstr. 16 696/1 A test was carried out to check the Automatic Data Logging and Computing System... The following tests were performed with satisfactory results: the ‘all commands’, ‘memory worse case pattern’, and ‘all characters—typewriters and IBM card punch’.
1976 Interfaces 6 75 This would certainly be a worse-case situation.
1985 Harper's Mag. Jan. 68/2 It was obviously the worse-case method of going about the task.
1991 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 27 June 48/3 Both base their war plans on ‘worse-case’ assessments—they assume the other side would mount the most powerful and effective attack of which it was capable.
2013 Wall St. Jrnl. 19 Feb. d4/4 A fixed approach to diagnosis that focuses on a patient's chief complaint and ruling out the worse-case scenario.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

worsev.

Brit. /wəːs/, U.S. /wərs/
Forms:

α. Old English wyrsian, Old English wirsian (rare), early Middle English wursi, early Middle English wursie, Middle English worsi (south-eastern), Middle English wurse, Middle English–1600s 1800s– worse.

β. early Middle English werrsenn ( Ormulum), early Middle English werse; also Scottish pre-1700 wers.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a word inherited from Germanic. Partly formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: worse adj.
Etymology: Cognate with or formed similarly to Old Saxon werson to anger, to corrupt, Old High German -wirsēn (in irwirsēn to become worse, to make worse; Middle High German wirsen to make worse, to damage, to offend, German (now regional) wirsen , wirschen , wurschen to make worse, to damage) < the same Germanic base as worse adv. In β. forms probably influenced by worse adj.; in later use (after Middle English) also directly < worse adj. Compare later worsen v., and also waur v., worser v., and worst v. With sense 1 compare worsing n.
Now rare and nonstandard.
1. intransitive. To become or grow worse in condition or quality, deteriorate. Cf. worsen v. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > worse > [verb (intransitive)]
worseeOE
aswindc885
worsena1250
appair1340
impair1340
fainta1375
pairc1390
vade1471
decay1511
decline1530
degenerate1545
lapse1641
addle1654
sunset1656
deteriorate1758
worst1781
descend1829
disimprove1846
slush1882
devolute1893
worser1894
eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter (1965) xxxvii. 5 (6) Conputruerunt et deteriorauerunt cicatrices meae a facie insipientiae meae : fuladun & wyrsadon wundsweðe mine from onsiene unwisdomes mines.
OE Wulfstan Sermo ad Anglos (Nero) (1957) 268 Godes gerihta wandean to lange innan þysse þeode on æghwylcan ende, & folclaga wyrsedan ealles to swyþe.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1085 & aa hit wyrsode mid mannan swiðor & swiðor.
c1175 ( Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 199 We iseoð þis læne lif mid fræcednesse & mid mycele earfoðnesse ifulled, and ylce dæȝ þis lif wonæð & wursæð.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 242 Þe wunde þet eauer wurseð on hond & strengere is to healen.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 9446 Ȝif ich wilne æhte þenne wursede [c1300 Otho wersede] ich on crafte.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 33 Efterward comþ werihede þet makeþ þane man weri and worsi uram daye to daye.
1854 J. D. Hooker in L. Huxley Life & Lett. J. D. Hooker (1918) I. 352 Evil as our days are, whether they mended or worsed, it would [etc.].
1856 J. C. Stretton Margaret & her Bridesmaids III. vii. 138 When a patient's mending or worsing.
1886 R. E. G. Cole Gloss. Words S.-W. Lincs. Pref. p. iii She keeps bettering and worsing.
2001 Revue d'Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine 48 279/2 An adjustment of the cooking to his health that worsed each day.
2. transitive. To make worse; to impair, injure, or blemish. Cf. worsen v. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > worse > [verb (transitive)]
worsec1175
worsena1250
appair1297
impair1297
pairc1330
aggregea1382
appalea1500
emperish1509
empyre1566
worser1590
worst1602
improve1609
pejorate1653
vilioratea1722
misimprove1847
nastify1873
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 11845 To werrsenn & to niþþrenn uss. Biforenn godess ehne.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 315 Ȝe muȝe beon þurch ham igodet & iwurset [a1250 Titus wursnet].
a1250 Ureisun ure Louerde (Nero) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 202 Mine sunnen habbeð grimliche iwursed me.
c1390 Castle of Love (Vernon) (1967) l. 811 Hire holy maidenhod Þat neuer for no þing iworsed nas.
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 161 Oþer creaturis ben beterid, and noon ben worsid, bi þis ȝifte.
1598 R. Haydocke in tr. G. P. Lomazzo Tracte Artes Paintinge To Rdr. Other Translators, who are reputed to haue taken great paines in worsing their authors.
1616 N. Breton Good & Badde 39 His breeding may eyther better or worse him.
1621 F. Quarles Hadassa v. sig. E4v What's good, (like Iron) rusts for want of vse, And what is bad, is worsed with abuse.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 440 Perhaps more valid Armes,..when next we meet, May serve to better us, and worse our foes. View more context for this quotation
1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset I. xlii. 363 Them as goes away to better themselves, often worses themselves, as I call it.
1886 Referee 21 Feb. 7/4 Instead of bettering it [sc. their condition] they have ‘worsed’ it.
1909 Calif.-Weekly 11 June 450/1 When Bryanism was in flower there were many who voted for free silver in the conviction that, whatever might follow the experiment, the event could not ‘worse them any’, as they phrased it.
2007 Confluencia 23 53/1 Having one [sc. a child] would have worsed my situation but my God how it would have given my life meaning!
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

worseadv.

Brit. /wəːs/, U.S. /wərs/
Forms:

α. early Old English wiers, early Old English wirs, Old English wyrs, Middle English vorse, Middle English wirse, Middle English worce, Middle English worsse, Middle English wrs, Middle English wrse, Middle English wurce, Middle English wursse, Middle English–1500s wurs, Middle English–1600s wors, Middle English–1600s wurse, Middle English– worse, 1500s worss, 1500s wours, 1500s woursse, 1500s–1600s woors, 1500s–1600s woorse, 1500s–1600s wourse, 1900s– woss (English regional (Lincolnshire) and Welsh English (Flintshire)); Scottish pre-1700 vors, pre-1700 wors, pre-1700 worse; see also wuss adj., n.1, and adv.

β. Middle English vers, Middle English weerse, Middle English werce, Middle English wersse, Middle English wersshe (southern), Middle English–1500s warsse, Middle English–1500s wers, Middle English–1500s werse, Middle English–1600s wars, Middle English (1700s– English regional (northern and north midlands)) warse; Scottish pre-1700 wers, 1800s– warse.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Middle Dutch wers , wirs , wors (Dutch (now regional: chiefly West Flemish) wers , †wersch ), Old Saxon wirs (Middle Low German wirs , wers ), Old High German wirs (Middle High German wirs , wers , German (now regional) wirs , wirsch , wurs ), Old Icelandic verr , Old Swedish vär , värra (Swedish värre ), Danish værre , Gothic wairs < a suffixed form (comparative: see -er suffix3 2) of a Germanic base of uncertain origin: perhaps < the same Indo-European base as warre n., Early Irish ferr better, Old Church Slavonic vrŭxŭ top, summit, Russian verx top, Lithuanian viršus top, head and (with various suffixes) Sanskrit varṣīyas- higher, varṣiṣṭha- highest, classical Latin verrūca verruca n. (with the original sense of the Indo-European base apparently being ‘outer’, ‘extreme’); or perhaps < the same Germanic base as Old High German werra offence, annoyance, discord, war (see war n.1). Compare waur adv., worser adv., worserer adv., and wuss adj., n.1, and adv.Used in early Germanic languages as the adverbial suppletive comparative form corresponding to the adjectival suppletive comparative worse adj., with worst adv. serving as the corresponding adverbial superlative; compare discussion at worse adj. For a discussion of the stem vowel in Old English and Middle English, especially with regard to the history of the β. forms, see discussion at worst adj. In Old English the reflex of the inherited comparative suffix had been regularly lost after a long stem (compare e.g. lǣs less adv.), and the word is without ending (wiers ). Middle English forms of the adverb with final -e are unambiguously attested (beside forms without ending) from the early 13th cent.; earlier possible attestations in phrases have been taken as showing use as noun of the neuter adjective (see worse adj. and n. Phrases 2a and the discussion there). Compare also the following rendering of Latin (magis) deterius habere to be or to get worse (where deterius is the comparative of male badly):OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Mark v. 26 Nec quicquam profecerat sed magis deterius habebat : ne æniht gehalp ah swiðor wyrse [OE Rushw. Gospels wyrse] hæfde.
The comparative of badly adv., ill adv., evil adv., and evilly adv.
1.
a. More badly or wickedly; more reprehensibly or foolishly in regard to conduct.In quot. eOE2 in to do worse, a construction now usually regarded in this context as a use of the noun (see worse adj. and n. Phrases 2a), except when modified by an adverb (see for example quots. a1425, 1550).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > worse > [adverb]
worseeOE
waurc1175
downhilla1398
downwarda1400
worser1547
bastardlike1563
degenerously1627
degenerately1645
witheringly1815
society > morality > moral evil > [adverb] > worse
worseeOE
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > imperfection > [adverb] > in specific way: more imperfectly
worseeOE
worserer1804
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xlvi. 347 Sua sua he bet wat, swa he wyrs [L. deterius] agylt.
eOE Metrical Dialogue of Solomon & Saturn (Corpus Cambr. 422) ii. 181 Wyrs deð se ðe liehð oððe ðæs soðes ansæceð.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 42 (MED) Þu witlese wiht wurchest..& ȝet tu wurchest wurse, for þe unsehene unwihtes wunieð ham in-wið, ant tu ase þine lauerdes luuest ham & heiest.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 1416 Swuch he maytellen of golnesse Þat sunegeþ wurse imodinesse.
c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 93 Þou halst wel wors þane masseday Þane man myd hys workynge.
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. iii. l. 102 Qweynteliche, quaþ þe kyng, wrouht hastou ofte; Bote worse wrouhtest þou neuere þen whon þou fals toke.
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 44 But oure Pharisees to dai done wel wers.
c1450 (c1350) Alexander & Dindimus (Bodl.) (1929) l. 783 Wers wirchen no folk þan ȝe weiȝes alle.
1550 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue (new ed.) i. vi. sig. Ciiv We maie do muche yll, er we do much wars.
1606 D. Tilenus Positions held by Bishop of Eureux 52 These publick and vniuersall Spirits..behaue themselues sometimes farre worse, than simple particular men, who finde themselues better armed with foure or fiue little stones taken out of the Scripture, than with all the sumptuous armour of Saule.
1680 T. D'Urfey Virtuous Wife iv. ii. 41 I behave my selfe worse in this garbe, than an Ambassador of that Countrey does in an English one.
1762 New & Gen. Biogr. Dict. X. 224 No man wrote better, and at the same time lived worse.
1839 T. Lockerby Life J. Brown Notes 311 If he meant, that we acted worse then the majority of our brethren, he was ill informed, if not ill disposed.
1878 Deb. House of Commons (Canada) 7 Mar. 841/2 They had acted worse than their predecessors, therefore, the people would say they had no confidence in them.
1977 Law & Contemp. Probl. 41 244 Men who participated in the program not only did not behave worse, they actually behaved better.
2003 T. De Waal Black Garden xiv. 220 The Armenians had ‘behaved worse than the fascists’.
b. More harshly, unkindly, or unfavourably; in a harder way. †to do (a person) worse: to treat (a person) more harshly or severely; cf. to do worse to (worse adj. and n. Phrases 2a) and to do (a person) woe at woe int., adv., n., and adj. Phrases 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > strictness > [adverb] > severely or sternly > more severely
worseOE
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > harshness or severity > [adverb] > more
worseOE
OE Judgement Day I 75 He þæt þonne onfindeð..þæt he bið on þæt wynstre weorud wyrs gescaden, þonne he on þa swiþran hond swican mote.
OE Homily (Bodl. 340) in D. G. Scragg Vercelli Homilies & Related Texts (1992) 17 Mynte þæt he hine sceolde wyrs astrican gif he mihte.
a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) 236 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 173 Hi hem deð wa inoch..Nute hi hweþer hom deþ þurs [read wurs (with initial letter wynn); a1200 Trin. Cambr. doð wers].
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 793 Telstu bi me þe wurs [a1300 Jesus Oxf. wrs] forþan Þat ich bute anne craft nekan.
a1450 (?1400) in J. Kail 26 Polit. Poems (1904) 8 Euel thou spekest, worse dost mene.
a1500 (a1450) Generides (Trin. Cambr.) l. 1365 He hym reportid wers thanne euer he ment.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Gen. xix. B We will deale worse with the then with them [thē (then) in text].
?1553 Respublica (1952) Prol. 1 But let this be taken no wurse then yt ys mente.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. ii. 45 Now I but chide: but I should vse thee worse . View more context for this quotation
1602 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor ii. i. 53 I shall trust fat men the worse.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xii. 484 Will they not deale Wors with his followers then with him they dealt? View more context for this quotation
1740 S. Richardson Pamela I. 237 Now this Woman sees me pick up so fast, she uses me worse.
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey I. 181 'Tis..using him worse than a German.
1802 W. Wordsworth Stanzas Thomson's Castle Indolence 33 Some thought far worse of him, and judged him wrong.
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House xiv. 133 I hope you won't think the worse of me for having made these little appointments at Miss Flite's.
1880 Ld. Tennyson Columbus 106 Being but a Genovese, I am handled worse than had I been a Moor.
1881 W. Collins Black Robe I. 236 You are sure you won't think the worse of me, if I tell it?
1952 E. Mittelhölzer Children of Kaywana (1959) 284 Do you agree that the private planters treat their slaves far worse than the Company people?
1994 L. de Bernières Capt. Corelli's Mandolin xxi. 135 Everyone thinks you're terrible, but no one thinks any the worse of you for it.
2004 ‘J. Jameson’ & N. Strauss How to make Love like Porn Star i. viii. 56 I should have known that Jack would react by doing the exact opposite—treating me even worse around his friends.
c. More imperfectly, carelessly, incorrectly, unskilfully, etc.; in an inferior way.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adverb] > more
worseOE
waurc1175
worserer1804
OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Otho) v. Concl. 484 Lifes boc & þrowunge Sancte Anastase martyr, sio wæs yfle of Grecesce on Læden gehwyrfed & gyt wyrs [L. peius] from sumum ungetydum geryhted.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 155 Ȝef me ȝemeð wurse ani þing ileaned. oðer bitacht to witene. þene he wene þet ach hit.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 505 Ȝet þu singst worse [a1300 Jesus Oxf. wrse] þon þe heisugge.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xvii. l. 322 (MED) It doth hym worse þan his wyf or wete to slepe.
1442 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Jan. 1442 §38. m. 1 Your souldeours..the wers paied of theire wagees.
a1500 St. Brendan's Confession (Lamb.) l. 84 in Geibun-Kenkyu (1968) 25 8 (MED) I haue serued þee, my God, þe wors whanne I ouȝte haue serued þee myche þe betere.
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 66 The ground also wors tyllyd & occupyd.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xi. sig. Ev Who is wurs shod, than the shoemakers wyfe.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xi. sig. Eiiv At ende I myght put my wynnyng in myne iye, And see neuer the wors.
1580 Sir P. Sidney in A. Collins Lett. & Mem. (1746) I. 285 I would..your Worship would learne a better Hand, you write worse then I, and I write evell enough.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iv. i. 30 If euer you haue spent time worse, ere now. View more context for this quotation
1658 R. Brathwait Honest Ghost 313 Was e're wealth worse bestowed?
1711 A. Pope Ess. Crit. 5 There are, who judge still worse than he can write.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones III. viii. vii. 195 I may put all the Good I have ever got by you in my Eyes, and see never the worse . View more context for this quotation
1769 W. Robertson Hist. Charles V III. xi. 368 Raw soldiers, ill disciplined, and worse commanded.
1819 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) III. 288 The prints are ill drawn and worse executed upon stone.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 394 The English women of that generation were decidedly worse educated than they have been at any other time since the revival of learning.
1901 Scotsman 7 Nov. 4/3 New York..cannot be worse governed in the future than it has been under the rule of the Tammany Tiger.
1931 Amer. Mercury Feb. 162/2 The basic trouble with the American Polizei..is that they are badly chosen for their work, and even worse trained for it.
1988 New Scientist 28 July 38/2 Early hominids were worse equipped for hunting large mammals than the Hadza are.
2004 S. Mehta Maximum City 401 The children streaming from school in the late afternoon are now darker and worse dressed..than when I studied here.
2. More unfortunately, unluckily, or unhappily; with less success.In early use often with impersonal verb and dative of person (later as simple complement), e.g. me is worse, him chieves worse, him limped worse (cf. him is woe at woe adv. 2); later with non-referential it, e.g. it is worse with him, it goes worse with him, etc.to go further, and fare worse: see further adv. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > [adverb] > more or most
worseeOE
worsteOE
waurc1175
worser1573
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xxxvi. 247 Ðylæs him ðy wirs sie, gif hie ða trumnesse ðære Godes giefe him to unnyte gehweorfað.
OE West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) v. 14 Ne synga þu, þelæs þe þe on sumon þingon wyrs getide.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Domitian A.viii) anno 994 Hi ðar, Gode ðang, wyrs geferdan þonne hi æfre wendan.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 34 Me is þe wrs þat ich þe so.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1724 Wel oft wes Leir wa and neuere wurs [c1300 Otho worse] þanne þa.
?a1300 Fox & Wolf 202 in G. H. McKnight Middle Eng. Humorous Tales (1913) 33 Þerfore ich fare þe wors.
c1330 Sir Orfeo (Auch.) (1966) l. 98 When Orfeo herd þat tiding Neuer him nas wers for noþing.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 4550 Þay awondrede of him ecchon, þat for al þe strokes þat þay gerde on, þat hym nas noȝt þe wers.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xiv. l. 226 And if he chyde or chatre, hym chieueth þe worse.
c1440 (a1400) Awntyrs Arthure (Thornton) l. 615 (MED) Bot hym lympede þe werse.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1905) II. 502 ‘Suster, how is it with the?’ And sho ansswerd agayn & said; ‘Nevur wars.’
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. iii. 33 Noe. God spede, dere wife! How fayre ye? Uxor. Now, as euer myght I thryfe, The wars I the see.
1525 Bp. J. Clerk in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. I. 316 He shall ryght well knowe that he farythe nothyng the wars for the Kynges Highnes and your Grace is recommendation.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. lxvii But this mocion worse succeded then the entreators deuised.
1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 19 But woorse shall he speed, that soweth ill seed.
1639 G. Plattes Discov. Subterraneall Treasure 21 But the more I tryed the worse I sped.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 996 With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout, Confusion worse confounded. View more context for this quotation
1693 T. Urquhart & P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 3rd Bk. Wks. ix. 77 Yet in that case should it go worse with me, if I did not..bethwack her Giblets [printed Gillets; Fr. la petite oye].
1747 J. Houstoun Mem. Own Life-time 31 Lucky it was for me that my Recantation never was heard, or else..it would have fared worse for me with our Principal than at first.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess iv. 89 A clamour grew As of a new-world Babel, woman-built, And worse-confounded.
1856 C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain xi. 103 Even if he could have gone, he doubted whether it would not have made Norman get on worse from anxiety.
1912 Lippincott's Monthly Mag. Jan. 96 Sam and his real wife got on worse than ever after this, and the only point on which they had anything in common seemed to be Sam's dreams.
1921 Manch. Guardian 15 Apr. 5/6 In a later collision between Parliament and the courts the lawyers came off worse.
1997 Guardian 28 Oct. 27/7 The Gloucester game..couldn't have gone worse.
2008 New Yorker 13 Oct. 69/1 A black candidate is likely to fare worse than preelection polls would suggest.
3.
a. With verbs of liking and pleasing: to a lesser degree, less. In early use also with verbs of trusting, praising, etc. Now rare.With quot. 1593 cf. worse and worse at Phrases 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adverb] > to a lesser extent
lesseOE
worseeOE
lessera1500
worser1584
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xix. 143 He gesihð ðæt his hieremen agyltað, & he nyle hie arasian, ðylæs hira lufu aslacige, & he him ðe wirs licige.
OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.i) anno 1044 Se arcebisceop wende þæt hit sum oðer man abiddan wolde oþþe gebicgan, þe he wyrs truwode, & uðe.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 236 Misunne is mare þen of awepmon for hit bicom me wurse.
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. iii. l. 168 ‘Nay, lord,’ quaþ þat ladi, ‘leef him þe worse Whon ȝe witen witerliche Wher þe wrong lihþ.’
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 9035 Þe wick er neuer þe worthier þat man tell quat þe dughti er, Ne þe gode þe wers to prais, Quat-so men o þe wick sais.
a1460 E. Clere in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 199 He had don his dever in þat in hym was to noyse me and slaunder me, þe whiche I am wers plesed with-all þan with ony mony þat I haue spent.
a1547 J. Redford Moral Play Wit & Sci. (1848) 45 Ye, and I lyke him never the wurs.
1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. F Your treatise makes me like you, worse & worse. View more context for this quotation
a1612 J. Harington Brief View Church of Eng. in Nugæ Antiquæ (1804) II. 250 Even Augustus was the worse beloved for appointing an ill man to his successor.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) v. ii. 70 The glorious Gods..loue thee no worse then thy old Father Menenius do's. View more context for this quotation
1684 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 2nd Pt. 44 I like him worse then I did. View more context for this quotation
1790 A. Christie Let. 25 Oct. in R. Price Corr. (1994) III. 331 It is not satisfactory even to me, and what I like worse in it is that he rather justifies the part he has taken, as the best upon the whole.
1827 T. Carlyle E. T. W. Hoffmann in German Romance II. 198 The second reading pleases worse than the first.
1853 J. Banim Nowlans xix. 195 He staid that night; and I watched him closer, and liked him worse.
1902 Breeder's Gaz. 18 Dec. 1084/2 He had..selected a bull, but when he got him home he did not like him, and kept on liking him worse every day.
1922 B. Tarkington Wren i. 37 I'm afraid it'll make you like me worse than you've already been getting to—lately—Mr. Roddy.
1998 S. Larsen Re-appearing Statue ix. 109 I thought if I did him a favor and fixed it, maybe he'd like me better. He couldn't like me any worse.
b. As an intensifier, with verbs of hurting, harming, disturbing, fearing, hating, etc.: more greatly, severely, or intensely; in a greater degree.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > in or to a greater degree or extent > specifically of something bad
worse?a1425
worsera1616
?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 100v, in Middle Eng. Dict. at Wers(e Þe wounde akeþ werse þen it was wunte.
1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. cxciv. f. ccxlvv/1 The duke of Burgoyne hated hym, bycause he made warre agaynst the duke of Bretaygne, and yet the duchesse hated hym worse.
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iv. ii. 20 Such as feare the report of a Caliuer, worse then..a hurt wild ducke. View more context for this quotation
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing ii. iii. 152 He would make but a sport of it, and torment the poore Lady worse . View more context for this quotation
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iii. ii. 296 Ile startle you Worse then the Sacring Bell. View more context for this quotation
a1631 J. Donne Poems (1633) 340 As Itch Scratch'd into smart, and as blunt iron grown'd Into an edge, hurts worse.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 293 Such another Field They dreaded worse then Hell. View more context for this quotation
1676 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Iliads i. 312 Which, angry as he is, will vex him worse.
1701 J. Dunton tr. Homer in Merciful Assizes 281 We hate him worse than Hell-Mouth, that utters one thing with his Tongue, and keeps another in his Brest.
1773 O. Goldsmith She stoops to Conquer v. 92 It has shook me worse than the basket of a stage-coach.
a1796 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 771 Thou knowest the Virtues cannot hate thee worse.
1819 J. Keats Cap & Bells xviii That fellow's voice, which plagues me worse than any.
1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci v. ii. 88 That stern yet piteous look, those solemn tones, Wound worse than torture.
1867 J. R. Houlding Austral. Capers 228 I hate them worse than brown snakes or deaf adders.
1915 D. H. Lawrence Rainbow i. 10 He hated them worse than ever he hated any person.
1966 R. V. Cassill Happy Marriage & Other Stories 25 To..fall down and then pretend to be hurt worse than she was.
2003 New Scientist 6 Dec. 6/2 Deaths from flu in the US might double to 70,000 this winter. Children could be hit worse than usual.
c. With need, want, etc.: to a greater extent, much more. Cf. badly adv. 7.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > in or to a greater degree or extent
moeOE
moreOE
furtherc1050
greaterc1230
furthermorea1300
heldera1400
largerlya1425
any more1533
farthera1535
furtherfortha1542
preferentially1864
worse1883
much more1912
1883 Deb. House of Commons (Canada) 8 May 1060/1 I believe, to-day, the parties who get up and say they do not want the increase want it worse than the parties who have had the honesty to admit that they want it.
1908 Black Cat Feb. 33 If father and I missed her those four years, Roger missed her worse.
1915 J. Buchan Thirty-nine Steps i. 15 I need help worse than any man ever needed it, and I want to know if I can count you in.
1974 State (Columbia, S. Carolina) 27 Feb. 4-b/2 My wife..and I already had decided we would give some of it [sc. money] away to people who need it worse than we do.
2007 S. Brouwer Hitment Triumph xv. 88 No matter how badly he wanted to win the fight for the puck, I knew I wanted it worse.
4. Used parenthetically to introduce an additional clause or sentence describing a further and stronger instance of something to which the speaker or writer objects. Cf. more adv. 6a.Often with intensifying word or phrase, as in even worse, worse still, etc.
ΚΠ
1602 T. North tr. S. Goulart Lives Epaminondas, Philip of Macedon 103 She procured him to banish or put to death all the gouernours of his sonne Britannicus. And worse yet: he committed him vnto men suborned by Agrippina.
1665 R. Head Eng. Rogue I. i. They did but lisp, or worse, speak through the Nose.
1785 W. Cowper Task ii. 21 Thus man devotes his brother, and destroys; And, worse than all, and most to be deplor'd,..Chains him, and tasks him, and exacts his sweat With stripes.
1805 W. Wordsworth Rob Roy's Grave 24 They stir us up against our kind; And worse, against ourselves.
1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia I. ii. xi. 164 Far worse, the marriage itself went awry.
1913 G. Murray Euripides & his Age vii. 166 He had denied the gods; worse, he had denounced the doings of the gods as evil.
1926 H. E. Rollins Gorgeous Gallery p. xvi Worse still, he has omitted one leaf.
1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard iii. 92 He was poxed with running for trains, missing trains, and worse, catching trains crowded with sickly commuters.
1993 Atlantic Aug. 99/1 An oaf with mud on his shoes who invaded the drawing rooms of the genteel to talk about sex and, even worse, money.
2015 New Statesman 31 July 21/1 Hyphenated words breaking across paragraphs or, worse, hyphenation across pages or columns.

Phrases

P1. worse than: modifying an adjective, noun, or (occasionally) verb, to indicate a greater degree of badness or severity than the modified word expresses. Cf. more adv. 5a(b).
ΚΠ
a1425 (?a1350) Gospel of Nicodemus (Galba) (1907) 741 Ȝe wers [a1425 BL Add. 32578 wars, ?c1450 Sion Coll. London wors] þan wode, how dar ȝe negh þis stede?
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus ii. iii. 175 Oh keepe me from there worse than killing lust.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear ii. 77 Brutish villaine, worse then brutish. View more context for this quotation
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iii. 418 Besides thir other worse then heathenish crimes. View more context for this quotation
1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 893 By worse then hostile deeds. View more context for this quotation
a1746 F. Hutcheson Syst. Moral Philos. (1755) II. ii. i. 155 Were the restraints of laws removed, and multitudes depraved by bad example, satisfying the worse than brutal inclination,..monstrous and unnatural passions-would arise.
1799 W. Wordsworth Ruth 164 O Ruth! I have been worse than dead.
1867 A. T. Drane Christian Schools II. vi. 253 Among the scanty relics that escaped the hands of these worse than Vandals.
1897 Westm. Gaz. 18 Jan. 3/2 He deliberately chose to worse than waste his opportunities and his talents.
1902 Public 2 Aug. 310/3 Is there any sufficient reason why these worse-than-anarchists should not be hanged?
1933 E. A. Powell Slanting Lines of Steel xviii. 287 The indifferent food and the worse than indifferent service.
1951 Managing Small Forest (U.S. Dept. Agric. Farmers' Bull. No. 1989) 19 Burning farther than that from field edges is worse than wasted.
2003 New Yorker 10 Nov. 128/3 The Wachowskis have a worse than tin ear for dialogue (tin-plated, perhaps).
P2.
a. worse and worse: increasingly worse (in senses 1 and 2), more and more badly. Cf. worse adj. and n. Phrases 1a(a).
ΚΠ
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 33v Her sone tytan gouerned hym so malicyously and allewey worse and worse [Fr. de pis en pis] with out ony compassion on the peple.
c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 115v (MED) Wheþir it [sc. cancer] be kutt al aweye or y-left stille, it bringiþ wo & sorowe to þe pacient by his lyue, and so wors and wors til he be deed.
1487 W. Cely Let. 12 Sept. in Cely Lett. (1975) 233 The exchaunge goyth euer the lenger warsse and wars.
1550 J. Heywood Hundred Epigrammes xl. sig. Bvv How doth your eie sight? worse & worse (said he).
1639 J. Clarke Paroemiologia 83 It mends like soure ale in summer worse and worse.
1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses II. 484 He did nothing but deturpate, and so continued worse and worse till his death.
1725 G. Sewell Wks. Shakespear VII. 331 I can by no means think that Shakespear wrote worse and worse.
1839 G. Combe Lect. Phrenology 329 The air became vitiated more and more, and the blood worse and worse aërated.
1982 J. C. Holt How Children Fail (ed. 2) 230 She could not concentrate on doing it, and hence did it worse and worse.
1999 K. A. Woodrow-Lafield in D. W. Haines & K. E. Rosenblum Illegal Immigration in Amer. ii. 15 The lesser educated are faring worse and worse over time.
2006 G. Downs Spit Baths 171 At the basketball games, she behaved worse and worse.
b. worse and worse off: increasingly badly off; in worse and worse circumstances. Cf. worse off adv.
ΚΠ
1824 Cobbett's Weekly Reg. 28 Feb. 518/1 We have been getting poorer and poorer, and worse and worse off.
1876 ‘M. Twain’ Tom Sawyer (1881) xxx. 239 Let's go back that way! We seem to get worse and worse off all the time.
1934 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 10 Mar. 468/2 Parliament imposed stringent conditions on the railways: if it does not do something more for all classes of road users we shall find ourselves worse and worse off year by year.
1981 Jrnl. Southern Afr. Stud. 8 93 With the exception of a minute embryonic elite, the villagers are becoming worse and worse off.
2013 Morning Star (Nexis) 22 Jan. As the years go by the poorest, most marginalised people in Britain get worse and worse off.
†P3. worse at ease: less well at ease, more ill at ease. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) viii. l. 1352 (MED) Sche was the worse at aise.
1543 B. Traheron tr. J. de Vigo Most Excellent Wks. Chirurg. iii. v. f. xciii/1 After the resolution they waxe worse at ease, and euil accidentes come vpon them.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iii. ii. 24 The more one sickens, the worse at ease he is. View more context for this quotation
1749 W. Whiston Memoirs I. viii. 72 They feel themselves no better, perhaps worse at Ease within.
1884 Spectator 6 Sept. 1169/2 The boy ceases to be at ease in the presence of his sisters, or to be able to talk to his mother, and he is even worse at ease in the presence of other members of the sex.
P4. to do worse: (in the infinitive after could or might, usually followed by than) to make a worse choice, to have worse fortune (used to indicate an acceptable or recommended course of action).
ΚΠ
1826 J. Galt Last of Lairds v. 43 'Tis my opinion, John, that the Laird might do worse than consult you on the subject.
1829 D. Drummond Objections Phrenol. 189 If some of our Grandees (and they might do worse) could induce a few Rajahs &c. to break the spell.
1858 Titan July 77/2 I am not sure, Julia, but we might do worse than settle at Prenderley, either of us.
1907 Ice & Cold Storage June 135/1 If that were the case, the Colonial Premiers could do worse than give attention to it.
1967 J. Wilson in L. Deighton London Dossier 35 Linguists wishing to meet au pair girls might do worse than to hang about the pram park inside Peter Jones department store.
1982 P. Redmond Brookside (Mersey TV transmission script) (O.E.D. Archive) Episode 5. 37 Barry. What do you want me to get? A Reliant Robin? Or a sit-up-and-beg frog thing like across the close have? Sheila. You could do worse.
2010 Guardian (Nexis) 23 Apr. 9 Any voters unable to make up their minds could do worse than consult the online decision engine VoteMatch.

Compounds

C1. With past participles with the sense ‘in a worse way’, (also) ‘less fully, less’, forming adjectives, as worse-affected, worse-governed, etc.
ΚΠ
1448 in S. A. Moore Lett. & Papers J. Shillingford (1871) i. 54 (MED) Y wolde noght hit were y-knowe that suche writynge cam fro me, leste the parties..be more werce willed and dangerous to entrete.
1549 J. Cheke Hurt of Sedicion sig. G1 Shal thei not truly saye, the subiectes to be more vnfaithfull in disobedience, then other subiectes worse ordred be.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. ii. 45 Before the rest of my deere Country-men, Of better wit, but worse-applied Pen.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 63 It was apparant that either he was growne weaker in iudgement or worse affected to the Queenes seruice.
1680 W. Temple Ess. Orig. & Nature of Govt. in Miscellanea 69 Fugitives out of some worse governed Family.
1715 R. South 12 Serm. IV. 366 An ill-inclined Judgment, and worse-ordered Morals.
1795 H. L. Piozzi Jrnl. 7 Apr. (1942) II. 919 A sudden Descent of ill-disposed and worse-instructed Mountaineers.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India III. vi. i. 50 Parliament was so completely an instrument of bad government, that it was worse calculated to produce good results than the mere arbitrary will of a King.
1820 Q. Musical Mag. 2 454 Irregular, ill-directed, and worse-executed rehearsals.
1829 W. Scott Anne of Geierstein III. v. 129 If the Lord of Hosts should cast the balance in behalf of the fewer numbers and worse-armed party.
1834 H. L. Bulwer France I. 92 That ‘great manner,’..by which the old nobility strove to keep up the distinction between themselves and their worse-born associates.
1882 D. R. Locke Nasby in Exile xvi. 220 Good-bye to its eternal rains, its never-ending badly dressed men and worse dressed women.
1914 L. E. Shipman True Adventures of Play iii. 75 The present low estate of everything connected with our drama:..the ill-trained actors; the worse-trained authors.
1973 G. E. Aylmer State's Servants ii. 51 Ireland was still regarded as an out-relief centre for the less hopeful and worse-qualified members of the English governing class.
2010 Evening Standard (Nexis) 3 June The BBC's ill-conceived and worse executed television series.
C2.
† worse-opinionated adj. Obsolete having a more unfavourable opinion (of a person).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > [adjective] > having lower esteem
worse-opinionated1642
1642 P. Heylyn Hist. Episcopacie ii. vi. 436 Confessors..who..having suffered much in testimonie of their perseverance, became the worse-opinionated of those, who had not beene endued with an equall constancie.
† worse-willing adj. Obsolete less well-disposed; more unwilling.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > unwillingness > [adjective] > more unwilling
worse-willing1548
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Mark iv. f. xxxiiiv Neither let this make you euer the slacker or worse wyllynge [L. segniores] to distribute the gyftes of faythe, yf the people be vnkynde, and not aunswerable to your diligent endeuour.
1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. 1 Cor. ix. f. xxvii That..I might, folowing their mindes, allure them either vnto Christ, or at the leaste not make them thereunto wurse willing by displeasing theyr mindes [L. ne graviter offensos alienarem a Christo].
1550 Ld. Somerset tr. J. Calvin Epist. B ij b But this muste not astonyshe vs, nor make vs wurse willynge or fearefull.
1584 R. Scot Discouerie Witchcraft ii. ii. 20 The people would be woorse willing to accuse them; for feare least..they worke reuenge vpon them.
1721 J. Strype Eccl. Memorials II. ii. xx. 404 The poor Commons were not able, and worse willing, to bear it.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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