Wiktionary

worst

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English worste, wurste, warste, werste, wirste, from Old English wierrest, from Proto-Germanic *wirsistaz, superlative form of *ubilaz (“bad, evil”). Cognate with Old Saxon wirsista, wirrista (“worst”), Old High German wirst, wirsesto, wirsisto (“worst”), Danish værst (“worst”), Swedish värst (“worst”), Icelandic verstur (“worst”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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worst

  1. superlative form of bad: most bad
    1. Most inferior; doing the least good.
      I think putting oil on a burn is the worst thing you can do.
    2. Most unfavorable.
      That's the worst news I've had all day.
    3. Most harmful or severe.
      The worst storm we had last winter knocked down our power lines.
    4. Used with the definite article and an implied noun: something that is worst.
      None of these photographs of me are good, but this one is definitely the worst.
  2. superlative form of ill: most ill
    I'm feeling really ill — the worst I've felt all week.

Usage notes

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The comparative badder (for worse) and superlative baddest (for worst) derived from the positive bad are nonstandard. Worst may be further inflected to form the two additional superlatives worstest (nonstandard) and worstestest (informal, humorous). The comparative worser is also nonstandard.

Synonyms

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  • (most bad): baddest (nonstandard)
  • (most ill): illest (nonstandard)

Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Adverb

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worst

  1. superlative form of badly: most badly
    My sore leg hurts worst when it's cold and rainy.
    This is the worst-written essay I've ever seen.
    She's the worst-informed of the lot.
  2. superlative form of ill: most ill

Translations

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Noun

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worst (plural worsts)

  1. Something or someone that is the worst.
    • 1991, Don C. Dinkmeyer, Jr., The Encouragement Book: Becoming a Positive Person, page 201:
      The humorist helps people to explore and confront their worsts

Translations

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Verb

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worst (third-person singular simple present worsts, present participle worsting, simple past and past participle worsted)

  1. (archaic, transitive) To make worse.
  2. (dated, intransitive) To grow worse; to deteriorate.
    • 1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volumes (please specify |volume=III or IV), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC:
      Anne haggard, Mary coarse, every face in the neighbourhood worsting.
  3. (rare) To outdo or defeat, especially in battle.
    • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
      The […] Philistines were worsted by the captivated ark.
    • 1868–1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, Little Women: […], (please specify |part=1 or 2), Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC:
      Jo carried her love of liberty and hate of conventionalities to such an unlimited extent that she naturally found herself worsted in an argument.
    • 1894, Leo Tolstoï [i.e., Leo Tolstoy], “Contradiction between Our Life and our Christian Conscience”, in Constance Garnett, transl., The Kingdom of God is within You: or, Christianity Not as a Mystical Doctrine, but as a New Life-conception. […], London: Walter Scott, […], →OCLC, page 120:
      The higher classes see the unions, the strikes, the May Day Celebrations, and feel the calamity that is threatening them, and their terror passes into an instinct of self-defense and hatred. They know that if for one instant they are worsted in the struggle with their oppressed slaves, they will perish, because the slaves are exasperated and their exasperation is growing more intense with every day of oppression.

Quotations

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Anagrams

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Dutch

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Etymology

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From Middle Dutch worst, from Old Dutch *wurst, *worst, from Proto-West Germanic *wursti.

Cognate with Limburgish wósj, Zealandic woste, Old Saxon worst, Middle Low German worst, Plautdietsch Worscht, Old Frisian *wurst, West Frisian woarst, Old High German wurst, Middle High German wurst, German Wurst, Swabian Wurscht, Sathmar Swabian Wurscht, Bavarian Wuascht, Central Franconian Woosch, Luxembourgish Wuuscht, Hunsrik Worst, East Central German Wurscht, Vilamovian wiyśt, East Franconian Woschd, Rhine Franconian Wurscht, Pennsylvania German Warscht, Palatine German Wurst, Yiddish וווּרשט (vursht).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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worst f (plural worsten, diminutive worstje n)

  1. sausage

Derived terms

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-compounds where worst is the first element:

-compounds where worst is the final element:

Descendants

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  • Afrikaans: wors
    • → English: wors
  • Jersey Dutch: wârst
  • → Papiamentu: wòrs
  • → Russian: ворса (vorsa)
  • → Sranan Tongo: worst

Middle Dutch

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Etymology

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From Old Dutch *wurst, *worst, from Proto-West Germanic *wursti.

Noun

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worst f

  1. sausage

Inflection

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This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

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Further reading

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Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old English wierst, contraction of wierrest, from Proto-West Germanic *wirsist, from Proto-Germanic *wirsistaz.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈwurst/, /ˈwɛrst/
  • (later Northern) IPA(key): /ˈwarst/

Adjective

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worst (plural and weak singular worste)

  1. superlative degree of yvel
  2. superlative degree of ille

Descendants

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References

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Adverb

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worst

  1. superlative degree of yvel (adverb)
  2. superlative degree of ille (adverb)

Descendants

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References

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Noun

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worst (uncountable)

  1. Something or someone which is the most yvel or ille; the worst.
  2. (specifically) The worst-case scenario or eventuality.
  3. (figuratively) A rout or loss in battle.

Descendants

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References

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