verschlimmbessern

German

FWOTD – 14 July 2017

Etymology

Blend of verschlimmern (“to make worse”) +‎ verbessern (“to improve”), attributed to Georg Christoph Lichtenberg.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛɐ̯ˈʃlɪmˌbɛsɐn/, /fɐ-/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

1. (somewhat informal) to make something worse in an honest but failed attempt to improve it

   Synonym: kaputtreparieren

   • 2012 July 25, Thomas Darnstädt, "Staatsstreich zum Guten", Spiegel.

     Es hat das verquere, durch eilige Reparaturversuche im vergangenen Jahr nochmals verschlimmbesserte deutsche Wahlgesetz gekippt – gut ein Jahr vor der nächsten Bundestagswahl.

     A good year before the Bundestag elections, [the Federal Constitutional Court] has overturned the messy German electoral law, which had been unintentionally made even worse by hasty mending attempts last year.

2. (somewhat informal) to edit a text and thereby unintentionally distort it

   Synonyms: entstellen, verballhornen, verfälschen, verformen, verunstalten

Derived terms

• Verschlimmbesserung

Further reading

• “verschlimmbessern” in Duden online
• “verschlimmbessern” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.