Word.ws English Dictionary

take a turn for the worse

take a turn for the worse verb: to start to become worse; to worsen.

Verb

take a turn for the worse (third-person singular simple present takes a turn for the worse, present participle taking a turn for the worse, simple past took a turn for the worse, past participle taken a turn for the worse)

  1. (idiomatic) To start to become worse; to worsen.
    • Rest assured, this will not last.
      Take a turn for the worse.
      Your hate, clipped and distant.
      Your luck, [a] two-headed cow.1983 April 12, “Pilgrimage”, in Murmur, performed by R.E.M.
    • But Torres's afternoon was to take a turn for the worse for a second week in succession as he was shown a straight red card by referee Mike Dean for a two-footed challenge on Gower.2011 September 24, Aled Williams, “Chelsea 4 - 1 Swansea”, in BBC Sport

take a turn for the worse meaning in Malayalam

take a turn for the worse in Malayalam

deteriorate, worsen, decline
നില വഷളാകുക, അവതാളത്തിലാകുക, കൂടുതൽ മോശമാകുക, പേപ്പെടുക, അധഃപതിപ്പിക്കുക, ഹീനമാകുക

Antonyms of take a turn for the worse

Forms of take a turn for the worse

third-person singular presenttakes a turn for the worse
present participletaking a turn for the worse
pasttook a turn for the worse
past participletaken a turn for the worse

Questions about take a turn for the worse

What does take a turn for the worse mean?
Take a turn for the worse means to start to become worse; to worsen.
What is take a turn for the worse in Malayalam?
Take a turn for the worse in Malayalam is നില വഷളാകുക, അവതാളത്തിലാകുക, കൂടുതൽ മോശമാകുക. See Take a turn for the worse meaning in Malayalam.
What part of speech is take a turn for the worse?
Take a turn for the worse is a verb.
What is the past tense of take a turn for the worse?
The past tense of take a turn for the worse is took a turn for the worse.

Words near take a turn for the worse in the dictionary

  1. take a tinkle
  2. take a toll
  3. take a tumble
  4. take a turn
  5. take a turn for the better
  6. take a turn for the worse
  7. take a view
  8. take a walk
  9. take a walk on the wild side
  10. take a walkout powder
  11. take a whack at

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: take a turn for the worse (page history and authors); take a turn for the worse (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-take a turn for the worse.ogg.

Cite this entry: “take a turn for the worse.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/take_a_turn_for_the_worse. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.