Word.ws English Dictionary

worst-case scenario

worst-case scenario noun: any situation or conclusion which could not be any worse; the worst possible outcome.

Noun

worst-case scenario (plural worst-case scenarios)

  1. Any situation or conclusion which could not be any worse; the worst possible outcome.
    • Everyone is rightly planning for the worst-case scenario. Across Europe, that worst-case scenario is already playing out.2020 March 25, “Network News: What COVID-19 means for rail in a wider transport context”, in Rail, page 10
    • Here’s the worst case scenario: You’ve just wasted your time on a few meaningless Tinder messages and not an actual date—or heaven forbid, a full-blown relationship.2023 March 6, Alexis Jones, Megan Schaltegger, “These Tinder Conversation Starters Actually Work, According To Dating Experts”, in Women's Health

Adverb

worst-case scenario

  1. (informal) At worst, worst comes to worst, in the worst-case scenario.
    • I'll get the ends of my hair dyed. Worst-case scenario, I can cut them off.

Antonyms of worst-case scenario

Forms of worst-case scenario

pluralworst-case scenarios

Questions about worst-case scenario

What does worst-case scenario mean?
Worst-case scenario means any situation or conclusion which could not be any worse; the worst possible outcome.
What part of speech is worst-case scenario?
Worst-case scenario can be a noun or an adverb.
What is the plural of worst-case scenario?
The plural of worst-case scenario is worst-case scenarios.

Words near worst-case scenario in the dictionary

  1. Worst Korea
  2. worst of both worlds
  3. worst off
  4. worst timeline
  5. worst-case
  6. worst-case scenario
  7. worst-case scenarios
  8. worst-kept secret
  9. worst-kept secrets
  10. worst-tempered
  11. Worstead

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: worst-case scenario (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.

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