Worse Meaning
/wɜːs/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjcomparative form of bad: more bad
advcomparative form of badly (adverb): more badly
Sentence Examples
I don't know what is worse.
Life in prison is worse than the life of an animal.
The rooms were awful and the food was worse.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After eating the spoiled food, the patient's stomach pain grew ____ than before.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The weather is becoming ____, so we should probably start heading back home before the storm hits today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English worse, werse, from Old English wiersa, from Proto-West Germanic *wirsiʀō, from Proto-Germanic *wirsizô. Cognate with Dutch wers (“worse”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found."
— 2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:
"Judah was put to the worse before Israel."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Kings 4:12:
"Weapons more violent, when next we meet, / May serve to better us and worse our foes."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After eating the spoiled food, the patient's stomach pain grew ____ than before.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The weather is becoming ____, so we should probably start heading back home before the storm hits today.