worsen

English

Etymology

From Middle English wursnen; equivalent to worse +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɝsn̩/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɜːsn̩/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)sən

Verb

worsen (third-person singular simple present worsens, present participle worsening, simple past and past participle worsened)

1. (transitive) To make worse; to impair.

   The global warming has worsened the weather.

   • 1829, Robert Southey, “(please specify the page)”, in Sir Thomas More: or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:

     It is apparent that, in the particular point of which we have been conversing, their condition is greatly worsened.

2. (intransitive) To become worse; to get worse.

   The weather has worsened.

   • 1961 January, “Talking of Trains: Flooding at Lewes”, in Trains Illustrated, page 5:

     During the day conditions worsened quickly—for example, a 2-6-0 on the Uckfield line suddenly encountered flood water high enough to enter its ashpan and extinguish its fire—until lock gates up-river at Barcombe gave way and a tidal wave rolled down the valley meeting head-on a spring tide rolling up from the coast.

   • 2023 April 5, Mel Holley, “Network News: TPE faces uncertain future after high cancellation rate”, in RAIL, number 980, page 8:

     TPE's cancellation score worsened from 7.2% to 23.8% when adjusted to include pre-cancellations (P*-coded) owing to a shortage of train crew.

3. (transitive, obsolete) To get the better of; to worst.

Synonyms

• (to make worse): aggravate, exacerbate; See also Thesaurus:aggravate
• (to become worse): decline, deteriorate; See also Thesaurus:worsen
• (to get the better of): better, defeat, overpower

Antonyms

• improve
• ameliorate

Translations

transitive: make worse

• Asturian: empeorar
• Belarusian: пагарша́ць impf (paharšácʹ), паго́ршыць pf (pahóršycʹ)
• Breton: fallaat (br)
• Bulgarian: влошавам (bg) (vlošavam)
• Catalan: empitjorar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 使……惡化／使……恶化 (shǐ ... èhuà), 使……變壞／使……变坏 (shǐ ... biànhuài)

• Czech: zhoršit (cs)
• Dutch: verergeren (nl)
• Esperanto: plimalbonigi
• Finnish: pahentaa (fi), huonontaa (fi)
• French: empirer (fr)
• Galician: empeorar (gl), malvar
• Georgian: გაუარესება (gauareseba)
• German: verschlechtern (de)
• Hindi: बिगड़ना (hi) (bigaṛnā), मंडराना (maṇḍrānā)
• Hungarian: rosszabbít (hu)
• Ingrian: vaikenoittaa
• Italian: peggiorare (it), andare di male in peggio
• Japanese: 改悪する (ja) (kaiaku suru), 悪化させる (ja) (akka saseru), 悪くする (ja) (waruku suru)
• Latin: aggravō, gravō (la), dēteriorō
• Polish: pogarszać (pl) impf, pogorszyć (pl) pf
• Portuguese: piorar (pt), empiorar
• Romanian: agrava (ro), înrăutăți (ro)
• Russian: ухудша́ть (ru) impf (uxudšátʹ), уху́дшить (ru) pf (uxúdšitʹ)
• Spanish: empeorar (es), desmejorar (es), ir de mal en peor (es), peorar (es)
• Swedish: förvärra (sv)
• Tagalog: palalain, palubhain
• Ukrainian: погі́ршувати impf (pohíršuvaty), погі́ршити pf (pohíršyty)
• Welsh: gwaethygu (cy)

intransitive: get worse

• Asturian: empeorarse
• Belarusian: пагарша́цца impf (paharšácca), паго́ршыцца pf (pahóršycca)
• Breton: fallaat (br)
• Bulgarian: влошавам се (vlošavam se)
• Catalan: empitjorar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 惡化／恶化 (zh) (èhuà), 變壞／变坏 (zh) (biànhuài)

• Czech: zhoršit se (cs)
• Dutch: verergeren (nl)
• Esperanto: plimalboniĝi
• Finnish: huonontua (fi), pahentua (fi)
• Galician: empeorar (gl), malvar
• Georgian: გაუარესება (gauareseba)
• German: verschlechtern (de), sich verschlechtern
• Hungarian: rosszabbodik (hu)
• Icelandic: versna (is)
• Ingrian: vajeta
• Italian: peggiorare (it)
• Japanese: 悪化する (ja) (akka suru), 悪くなる (ja) (waruku naru)
• Korean: 악화되다 (ko) (akhwadoeda), 악화하다 (ko) (akhwahada)
• Latin: aggravor, peius fio, gravor
• Portuguese: piorar (pt), empiorar
• Quechua: anchayay
• Russian: ухудша́ться (ru) impf (uxudšátʹsja), уху́дшиться (ru) pf (uxúdšitʹsja)
• Scottish Gaelic: mùth, rach bhuaithe
• Spanish: empeorarse (es), desmejorarse (es)
• Swedish: förvärras (sv)
• Tagalog: lumala, lumubha
• Welsh: gwaethygu (cy)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} verslechteren (nl)
• German: ^{(please verify)} verschlechtern (de), ^{(please verify)} verschlimmern (de)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} kötüleştirmek (tr) (1), ^{(please verify)} kötüleşmek (tr) (2)

Anagrams

• Rewson, owners, resown, rowens, snower, sworne