/ wɜːs; NAmE wɜːrs/ adjective , adverb , noun
■ adjective (comparative of bad ) worse (than sth / doing sth)
1.
of poorer quality or lower standard; less good or more unpleasant :
The rooms were awful and the food was worse.
The weather got worse during the day.
The interview was much worse than he had expected.
I've been to far worse places.
There's nothing worse than going out in the cold with wet hair.
2.
more serious or severe :
They were trying to prevent an even worse tragedy.
The crisis was getting worse and worse .
Don't tell her that—you'll only make things worse .
Never mind—it could be worse (= although the situation is bad, it is not as bad as it might have been) .
3.
[ not before noun ] more ill / sick or unhappy :
If he gets any worse we'll call the doctor.
He told her she'd let them down and she felt worse than ever .
•
IDIOMS
- come off worse
- go from bad to worse
- worse luck!
—more at bark noun , fate noun
■ adverb (comparative of badly ) worse (than sth)
1.
less well :
I didn't do it very well, but, if anything, he did it worse than I did.
2.
more seriously or severely :
It's raining worse than ever.
3.
used to introduce a statement about sth that is more serious or unpleasant than things already mentioned :
She'd lost her job. Even worse, she'd lost her house and her children, too.
•
IDIOMS
- be worse off
- you can / could do worse than do sth
■ noun
[ U ] more problems or bad news :
I'm afraid there is worse to come.
•
IDIOMS
- be none the worse (for sth)
- the worse for wear
—more at better noun , change noun
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English wyrsa , wiersa (adjective), wiers (adverb), of Germanic origin; related to war .