worsen

English

Etymology

worse +‎ -en

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)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.

   • (Can we date this quote by Southey and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     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.

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
• Catalan: empitjorar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 使……惡化／使……恶化, 使……恶化 (shǐ ... èhuà), 使……變壞／使……变坏, 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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: verschlechtern (de)
• 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)
• Portuguese: piorar (pt), empiorar
• Romanian: agrava (ro), înrăutăți (ro)
• Russian: ухудша́ть (ru) impf (uxudšátʹ), уху́дшить (ru) pf (uxúdšitʹ)
• Spanish: empeorar (es), desmejorar (es)
• Swedish: förvärra (sv)
• Welsh: gwaethygu (cy)

intransitive: get worse

• Asturian: empeorarse
• Catalan: empitjorar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 惡化／恶化 (zh) (èhuà), 恶化 (zh) (èhuà), 變壞／变坏 (zh) (biànhuài), 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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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. 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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• (deprecated template usage) Turkish: kötüleştirmek (1), kötüleşmek (2)

Anagrams

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