worse
/wɝs/adverb, noun, adjective
worse is spelled W-O-R-S-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 78 times per million words in written English, the 1,369th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, worse means “Less skillfully” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in worse?
| Letters | 5: W-O-R-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 78 times per million words; the 1,369th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is worse?
Worse appears 78 times per million words in written English, the 1,369th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce worse?
- UK /wɜːs/
- /wɔːs/
- US /wɝs/
Worse has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-worse.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with worse?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as worse from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹs/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: sower, serow.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of worse
- verse
- worses present, singular, he/she/it
- worsing participle, present
- worsed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does worse mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
comparative form of badly (adverb): more badly
The harder you try, the worse you do.
- 2
Less skillfully.
He drives worse than anyone else I know.
- 3
More severely or seriously.
The bad news affected me worse than it did my brother.
- 4
Used to start a sentence describing something that is worse.
Her leg is infected. Still worse, she's developing a fever.
noun
- 1
obsoleteLoss; disadvantage; defeat
- 2
That which is worse; something less good.
Do not think the worse of him for his enterprise.
adjective
- 1
comparative form of bad: more bad
Your exam results are worse than before.
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo make worse; to put at disadvantage; to discomfit.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Worse in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | plus mal , pire, plus mauvais |
| German | schlechter, schlimmer , ärger |
| Portuguese | pior |
| Spanish | peor |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does worse come from?
From Middle English worse, werse, from Old English wiersa, from Proto-West Germanic *wirsiʀō, from Proto-Germanic *wirsizô. Cognate with Dutch wers (“worse”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).