worst
Americanadjective
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bad or ill in the highest, greatest, or most extreme degree.
the worst person.
-
most faulty, unsatisfactory, or objectionable.
the worst paper submitted.
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most unfavorable or injurious.
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in the poorest condition.
the worst house on the block.
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most unpleasant, unattractive, or disagreeable.
the worst personality I've ever known.
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most lacking in skill; least skilled.
He’s the worst player on the team.
noun
adverb
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in the most evil, wicked, severe, or disadvantageous manner.
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with the most severity, intensity, etc.; in the greatest degree.
verb (used with object)
idioms
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if worst comes to worst, if the very worst happens.
If worst comes to worst, we still have some money in reserve.
-
in the worst way, in an extreme degree; very much: Also the worst way.
She wanted a new robe for Christmas in the worst way.
-
get the worst of, to be defeated in; experience the most harm from.
New Jersey got the worst of the storm.
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at worst, if the worst happens; under the worst conditions: Also at the worst.
He will be expelled from school, at worst.
adjective
adverb
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in the most extreme or bad manner or degree
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least well, suitably, or acceptably
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(in combination) in or to the smallest degree or extent; least
worst-loved
noun
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the least good or most inferior person, thing, or part in a group, narrative, etc
-
(often preceded by at) the most poor, unpleasant, or unskilled quality or condition
television is at its worst these days
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the greatest amount of damage or wickedness of which a person or group is capable
the invaders came and did their worst
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the weakest effort or poorest achievement that a person or group is capable of making
the applicant did his worst at the test because he did not want the job
-
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in the least favourable interpretation or view
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under the least favourable conditions
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if all the more desirable alternatives become impossible or if the worst possible thing happens
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to enjoy the least benefit from an issue or be defeated in it
verb
Usage
What is a basic definition of worst? Worst describes something as being bad in the highest degree possible. Worst is also used to mean a thing that is the baddest possible and to mean something done in the baddest manner possible. Worst has several other senses as an adjective, adverb, noun, and verb.Worst is a superlative of the word bad. Simply put, worst describes something as being the baddest out of a group, category, list, and the like. This can mean something is most evil, is least skilled, is most unsatisfactory, is of the poorest quality, or is most unpleasant. What someone thinks of as the worst something depends on what they’re judging that thing on. As with bad, worst is often a person’s opinion.
- Real-life examples: Everybody has a movie that they think is the worst (poorest quality or most unpleasant to watch) movie ever made. The worst student in a class could be the one who scores the lowest on tests or the one who misbehaves the most. A runner who records the worst time in a race is the one who ran the slowest. The worst person you know might be the one with the most unpleasant personality or who treats you the most poorly.
- Used in a sentence: Jessica got a 50 on the test, making her grade the worst in the class.
- Real-life examples: A person who is the least skilled at painting among a group of painters is the worst. A pie that is the least pleasant to eat out of a group of pies is the worst.
- Used in a sentence: I have played a lot of bad video games, but that one is the worst of them all.
- Used in a sentence: We didn’t get any runners on base, making today’s baseball game the worst one this year.
Etymology
Origin of worst
First recorded before 900; Middle English worste (adjective, adverb, and noun), Old English wur(re)sta, wyr(re)st, wer(re)sta (adjective and adverb); cognate with Old Norse verstr; worse, -est 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Relentless storms and near‑constant rainfall – described as "apocalyptic" by one expert – have brought some of the South West's worst flooding in decades.
From BBC
That would complicate the job for the Federal Reserve and other major central banks, which have cut interest rates in recent years under the assumption that the worst of postpandemic inflation was behind them.
It had been bothering me for a couple of weeks, so I went to see my dentist, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst, having had two extractions in less than two years.
From Los Angeles Times
Related: Financial stocks are off to their worst yearly start in a decade.
From MarketWatch
My colleague Connor Smith notes it was the bank index’s worst day since last October:
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
