worst
adjective · noun
Form of bad , superlative of bad.
Simple meaning
Most wanting in quality or value or condition.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
wurstIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈwɝst
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
for non-slang definitions
Superlative form of bad: most bad
superlative of `bad'
Most wanting in quality or value or condition
Most inferior; doing the least good.
Most unfavorable.
Most harmful or severe.
Used with the definite article and an implied noun: something that is worst.
noun
Something or someone that is the worst.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (for non-slang definitions) superlative form of bad: most bad
Used this way, worst is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in everyday conversation and social media or informal writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Very casual
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Playful
- Usage feel
- Playful and informal
Where it naturally appears
- Everyday conversation
- Social media/informal writing
Usage note
Slang: natural in speech and messages between friends, but out of place in school, work or published writing.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use worst
- “It was the worst he had ever done on a test.”noun
- “The worst player on the team.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A woolen fabric with a hard textured surface and no nap.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A tightly twisted woolen yarn spun from long-staple wool.
Under the worst of conditions.
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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.