worst

\ˈwɝst\

/\ˈwɝst\/ adj

The verdict

“worst” is uncommon French (frequency #51,822 among 549 “W” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,822
frequency rank, French
549
“W” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Superlatif de bad dans le sens de « mauvais ». Le pire, le plus mauvais. Note : Le superlatif de bad dans le sens de « formidable » est baddest.

Corpus desk

Index FR-worst · worst · French

worst · rank #51,822 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #51,822
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 549
  • PHOTO-FINISH wheel

Nearest frequency peer: wheel (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangs de longue queue près de « worst »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « worst » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for worst
PropertyValue
Headwordworst
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ˈwɝst\
Letters5
Frequency rank#51,822
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « worst » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).worsttombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « wheel » (#51,821), « Wentworth » (#51,820), « Xanax » (#51,824). Parmi 549 lemmes en « W », « worst » est au #51,822. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

worst is uncommon French at frequency #51,822 among 549 “W” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed \ˈwɝst\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

worst doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is worst, spelled W-O-R-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Superlatif de bad dans le sens de « mauvais ». Le pire, le plus mauvais. Note : Le superlatif de bad dans le sens de « formidable » est baddest.
  2. 2
    Superlatif de ill. Le plus malade.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "worst"?
"worst" is spelled W-O-R-S-T. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈwɝst\.
What does "worst" mean?
As an adjective, "worst" means: Superlatif de bad dans le sens de « mauvais ». Le pire, le plus mauvais. Note : Le superlatif de bad dans le sens de « formidable » est baddest.
How do you pronounce "worst"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "worst" is \ˈwɝst\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "worst" come from?
"worst" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "worst", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list