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worsen

verb

Simple meaning

To become worse.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

wursuhn

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈwɝsən

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To become worse; to get worse.

  2. transitive

    To make worse; to impair.

  3. Grow worse

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To become worse; to get worse.

Used this way, worsen is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use worsen

  • “Conditions in the slum worsened.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

actually worsenconditions worsenworsen afterfurther worsen

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • worseningnounInflected form

    Process of changing to an inferior state.

  • worsenedadjectiveInflected form

    Changed for the worse in health or fitness.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.