[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/worsen/)

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# worsen

verb (worsen, worsens, worsened, worsening)

«worsen» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. To get worse: the storm worsened during the night. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worsen/#m1)
2. To make something worse: shouting will only worsen the problem. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worsen/#m2)

### In the lessons

In health and safety it tells you when to get help (if your cough worsens, see a doctor; if the weather worsens, turn back). In news and geography it describes problems like pollution or drought getting worse. In maths and graphs, results that worsen go down (or a time goes up). Phrases: worsen over time, steadily worsen, the situation worsened.

### Examples

- The weather worsened, so we left the beach. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worsen/#x1)
- If the pain worsens, go to the doctor. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worsen/#x2)
- Scratching a bite only worsens the itch. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worsen/#x3)
- The traffic worsened after the crash. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worsen/#x4)
- Air pollution worsens when there is no wind. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worsen/#x5)
- His test score worsened from 18 to 14. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worsen/#x6)
- (formal) The situation subsequently worsened. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worsen/#x7)

### Note

Regular verb: worsened, worsening. It is a bit more formal than "get worse". The opposite is improve. In maths, a worsening score falls, but a worsening race time rises — think about what "worse" means for each quantity.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «worsen» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/worsen/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«worsen» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/worsen.html) on Mova free.