Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
Worst is the superlative of bad .
2.
Worst is the superlative of badly .
3.
The ~ is the most unpleasant or unfavourable thing that could happen or does happen.
Though mine safety has much improved, miners’ families still fear the ~...
The country had come through the ~ of the recession.
? best
N-SING: the N, oft N of n
4.
Worst is used to form the superlative of compound adjectives beginning with ‘bad’ and ‘badly’. For example, the superlative of ‘badly-affected’ is ‘~-affected’.
5.
You say ~ of all to indicate that what you are about to mention is the most unpleasant or has the most disadvantages out of all the things you are mentioning.
The people most closely affected are the passengers who were injured and, ~ of all, those who lost relatives.
PHRASE: PHR with cl
6.
You use at ~ or at the ~ to indicate that you are mentioning the ~ thing that might happen in a situation.
At best Nella would be an invalid; at ~ she would die...
PHRASE: PHR with cl/group
7.
When someone is at their ~, they are as unpleasant, bad, or unsuccessful as it is possible for them to be.
This was their mother at her ~. Her voice was strident, she was ready to be angry at anyone.
PHRASE: n PHR, PHR after v, v-link PHR
8.
You use if the ~ comes to the ~ to say what you might do if a situation develops in the most unfavourable way possible. The form if ~ comes to ~ is also used, mainly in American English.
If the ~ comes to the ~ I guess I can always ring Jean...
He was asked whether he would walk out if the ~ came to the ~.
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR with cl