[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/worse/) [dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [English](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/) / [W](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/w/) / worse # worse adjective, comparative of bad (bad, worse, worst); adverb, comparative of badly (badly, worse, worst) «worse» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova. ## Everyday 1. Worse means more bad, of lower quality, or more unpleasant than something else. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worse/#m1) 2. Worse means more ill: «He felt worse in the night». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worse/#m2) 3. As an adverb, worse means more badly: «She sang worse than before». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worse/#m3) ### In the lessons In everyday life and health, «getting worse» about an illness means it is time to see a doctor. In stories, things getting worse builds tension. In maths and data, «worse» compares results: a lower score is worse in a test, but in golf or a race time a bigger number is worse. Phrases: «worse and worse», «even worse», «to make matters worse», «worse off» (in a worse situation), «none the worse». ### Examples - My cold is worse today. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worse/#x1) - This weather is worse than yesterday's. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worse/#x2) - To make things worse, I forgot my umbrella. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worse/#x3) - His handwriting is getting worse and worse. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worse/#x4) - Don't scratch the bite or it will get worse. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worse/#x5) - Lying only made it worse. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worse/#x6) - She played worse than usual. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worse/#x7) - Things could be worse! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worse/#x8) - He gives another puff--worse than ever! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worse/#x9) ### Note Irregular: bad → worse → worst. Never say «badder» or «more bad». «Worse» compares two things; «worst» is the most bad of all. Opposite: better. Do not confuse «worse» with «worst» or «verse». ## In Jewish tradition Interpretation: Sefer Yetzirah says God made everything as a counterpart of something opposite, good against evil, and so letters and ideas come in matching pairs. In the primary lessons: In everyday life and health, «getting worse» about an illness means it is time to see a doctor. In stories, things getting worse builds tension. In maths and data, «worse» compares results: a lower score is worse in a test, but in golf or a race time a bigger number is worse. Phrases: «worse and worse», «even worse», «to make matters worse», «worse off» (in a worse situation), «none the worse». ### Examples - There is nothing better than joy, and nothing worse than sorrow or plague is. \[19\] (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/worse/#x1) - God made all things as this one compared to that one: \[note 1: \[Ecclesiastes 7:14\]\] good compared to evil, better and best and a worse and worst. (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/worse/#x2) - For an illustration may serve the three letters, ע נ ג There is nothing better than joy, and nothing worse than sorrow or plague. \[2:5\] But how was it done? (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/worse/#x3) - And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to his tent. (Prophets 2KI.14.12, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/worse/#x4) - And when the Arameans saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they gathered themselves together. (Prophets 2SA.10.15, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/worse/#x5) - yet they hearkened not unto Me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff; they did worse than their fathers. (Prophets JER.7.26, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/worse/#x6) ### Note Irregular: bad → worse → worst. Never say «badder» or «more bad». «Worse» compares two things; «worst» is the most bad of all. Opposite: better. Do not confuse «worse» with «worst» or «verse». ## On Mova - [Trees and pragmatics of «worse» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worse/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames. - [«worse» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/worse.html) on Mova free. - [Trees and pragmatics of «worse» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/worse/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames. - [«worse» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/worse.html) on Mova free.