Although the two words, Worse and Worst look similar, there is a clear difference between them. In this article we are going to look at he meanings, functions and examples as well as the difference between worse and worst.
Worse – Meanings and Examples
Worse can be used as an adjective, adverb or noun. Worse is the comparative adjective of ‘bad’.
Worse as an Adjective could imply,
- poorer quality or lower standard
“Your marks are worse than mine.”
“It is hard to think of a worse time to start a business.”
- more serious or evil
“Your incessant blabber is making my headache worse.”
“The underlying source of this serious issue is getting worse”
Worse as an Adjective could mean,
- less well/skillfully
“That carpenter couldn’t have done the job worse if he’d tried.”
- More severely or seriously
“He was treated much worse than I was.”
Worse as a Noun could mean,
- something more unpleasant or difficult
“I don’t think her dress is ugly. I’ve seen worse.”
“If Anna thought this an unhappy day, worse was in store for her.”
“Your marks are worse than mine.”
Worst- Meanings and Examples
It can be used as an adjective, adverb, noun, or verb. Worst is the superlative form of ‘bad’
Worst as an Adjective could imply,
- Of the poorest quality or the lowest standard
“It was the worst meal I’ve ever had.”
“You’ve got the worst marks in the class.”
- Most severe or serious
“It was the worst disaster the world has ever faced.”
“Voldemort was Harry’s worst enemy.”
Worst as a Noun could mean,
- The most difficult, unpleasant, thing, person or situation.
“When I saw the police cars outside the house, I feared the worst.”
“That was the worst I’ve seen him play in several years.”
Worst as an Adverb implies
- Most severely or seriously
“Medics tried to attend to the worst injured people first.”
“Army was dispatched to the worst affected area.”
- Least pleasingly,
“She was voted the worst-best teacher.”
Worse as a Verb means
- To defeat someone
“He was challenged to a fight but was severely worsted.”
“If she had not been tired, she could not have been worsted.”
“That was the worst I’ve seen him play in several years.”
Difference between Worse and Worst
The major difference between these two terms is that ‘Worse’ is a comparative adjective and is used when we are making a comparison between two things while ‘worst’ is a superlative adjective and is used to say that one thing is inferior to all others. ‘Worse’ is most often used with the word ‘than’. Even if ‘than’ is not present, it is implied since it is a comparison. ‘Worse’ can be used only as a noun, adjective and adverb, but ‘worst’ is used as a verb, noun, adjective and adverb.
