Basic+ Word of the Day: worse

worse (adjective, adverb, noun)

"I feel worse than yesterday."

Worse means ‘bad or ill to a greater extent,’ or ‘inferior.’

• The flu season is worse than last year.
• This singer is worse than the one we heard last night.

Worse also means ‘in a worse manner or degree.’

• The class behaves worse when they have a substitute teacher.
• Felicia feels much worse at night than during the day.

Worse is also something that is worse.

• The dying patient took a turn for the worse.

Did you know?

Worse is the comparative form of bad. The superlative form is worst. So you can say, “The person who lies is bad; the person who steals is worse; the person who hurts someone is the worst of the three.”

Common uses

“For better or for worse” is a phrase you may hear in a wedding ceremony. Because a marriage involves good and bad times, it’s important for a couple to understand that from the beginning of their married life.

In pop culture

Watch Stockard Channing sing “There Are Worse Things,” in the movie Grease. Read the lyrics below in the comments section. Do you think there are worse things she could do?

There are other meanings of worse.