worsen
/ˈwɜːsn̩/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Northumbria/wɔːsn̩/
worsen verb: to make worse; to impair.
Verb
worsen (third-person singular simple present worsens, present participle worsening, simple past and past participle worsened)
- To make worse; to impair.
- Near-synonyms: aggravate, exacerbate; degrade, deteriorate; see also Thesaurus:aggravate
- Global warming has worsened the weather.
- Synonyms:
- aggravate, exacerbate, degrade, deteriorate, adulterate, alloy, canker, contaminate, corrupt, debase
- Antonyms:
- ameliorate, improve, meliorate, mitigate
- To become worse; to get worse.
- The weather has worsened.
- During the day conditions worsened quickly—for example, a 2-6-0 on the Uckfield line suddenly encountered flood water high enough to enter its ashpan and extinguish its fire—until lock gates up-river at Barcombe gave way and a tidal wave rolled down the valley meeting head-on a spring tide rolling...1961 January, “Talking of Trains: Flooding at Lewes”, in Trains Illustrated, page 5
- Synonyms:
- badden, decline, deteriorate, go downhill, go south
- Antonyms:
- improve
- To get the better of; to worst.
worsen meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Malayalam
worsen in Hindi
- transitive: make worse
- बिगड़ना bigaṛnā, मंडराना maṇḍrānā
worsen in Tamil
- இன்னும் மோசமாகு
worsen in Urdu
- بدتر ہونا, خراب ہونا, بدتر کرنا, خراب کرنا
worsen in Malayalam
- ദൂഷ്യം വരുത്തുക, കൂടുതൽ ചീത്തയാക്കുക, വഷളാക്കിത്തീർക്കുക
More languagesFewer languages
- worsen in Tagalog
- palalain, palubhain, lumala, lumubha
Examples of worsen in a sentence
- As for further retaliation: adding such fuel to the fire, as it were, will only worsen the already unpleasant state of affairs.
- It is apparent that, in the particular point of which we have been conversing, their condition is greatly worsened.1829, Robert Southey, “(please specify the page)”, in Sir Thomas More: or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society. […], volume...
- TPE's cancellation score worsened from 7.2% to 23.8% when adjusted to include pre-cancellations (P*-coded) owing to a shortage of train crew.2023 April 5, Mel Holley, “Network News: TPE faces uncertain future after high cancellation rate”, in RAIL, number 980, page 8:
Synonyms of worsen
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of worsen
| third-person singular present | worsens |
|---|---|
| present participle | worsening |
| past participle | worsened |
| past | worsened |
Origin of worsen
From Middle English wursnen; equivalent to worse + -en.
Words formed from worsen
Words that rhyme with worsen
Questions about worsen
- What does worsen mean?
- Worsen means to make worse; to impair.
- What is worsen in Hindi?
- Worsen in Hindi is बिगड़ना (bigaṛnā), मंडराना (maṇḍrānā). See Worsen meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use worsen in a sentence?
- As for further retaliation: adding such fuel to the fire, as it were, will only worsen the already unpleasant state of affairs.
- What part of speech is worsen?
- Worsen is a verb.
- How do you pronounce worsen?
- Worsen is pronounced /ˈwɜːsn̩/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of worsen?
- The past tense of worsen is worsened.
Words near worsen in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: worsen (page history and authors); worsen (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); worsen (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); worsen (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). 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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-worsen.wav.
Cite this entry: “worsen.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/worsen. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.