worsen

English

Etymology

worse +‎ -en

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (UK)

  (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, Sir Thomas More; or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society

     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.

1. (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)
• Georgian: გაუარესება (gauareseba)

• German: verschlechtern (de)
• Hindi: बिगड़ना (hi) (bigaṛnā), मंडराना (maṇḍrānā)
• Hungarian: rosszabbít
• 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: aggravo, gravo (la)
• 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, peorar (es)
• Swedish: förvärra (sv)
• 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 (zh), 恶化 (zh) (èhuà), 變壞 (zh), 变坏 (zh) (biànhuài)

• Czech: zhoršit se (cs)
• Dutch: verergeren (nl)
• Esperanto: plimalboniĝi
• Finnish: huonontua (fi), pahentua (fi)
• Galician: empeorar (gl)
• Georgian: გაუარესება (gauareseba)

• German: verschlechtern (de), sich verschlechtern
• Hungarian: rosszabbodik (hu)
• Icelandic: versna (is)
• Italian: peggiorare (it)
• Japanese: 悪化する (ja) (akka suru), 悪くなる (ja) (waruku naru)
• 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)
• Welsh: gwaethygu (cy)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. 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