worsen
Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb
Etymology
Origin of worsen
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English wersnen “to deteriorate”; see origin at worse, -en 1
Explanation
When things go from terrible to even more terrible, they worsen. If your sore throat worsens, you should call the doctor. If something gets worse, you can say that it worsens. So if the rain that started as a misty drizzle begins to grow torrential, threatening to ruin the picnic you've planned, the weather worsens. And if there's less money in your piggy bank every day, your financial situation worsens. The verb worsen shares a root with war, the Old Saxon werran, meaning "to entangle."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In weeks to come, shipping experts say, the number of crews abandoned by owners driven into bankruptcy will rise, and the gravity of medical conditions on board will worsen.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 9, 2026
Its forecast is based on the assumption that fuel costs remain around their current level, and supply chain issues neither worsen nor improve.
From BBC • May 6, 2026
If the market currently expects inflation to worsen in coming years, and the market turns out to be right in its expectation, then bonds can still provide a positive real return.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 30, 2026
President Lee Jae Myung pledged in a social media post on Saturday to take the "strongest possible" action against "antisocial behaviour that exploits community crises to worsen them and profit from them".
From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026
And claiming that it is will, in its ignorance, worsen the ecological ailments that activists would like to cure.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
