worser

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English

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Etymology

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worse +‎ -er

Adjective

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worser

  1. (archaic or nonstandard) worse.
    • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
      That were my ſtate farre worſer then it is,
      I would not wed her for a mine of Gold
    • 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw [], Act II:
      Spencer ere it flow thrice at London bridge, / London I feare will heare of worſer newes.
    • 1674, Divers Rural and Oeconomical Inquiries, recommended to Observation and Tryal, in Philosophical Transactions, vol. 9
      Whether Flower, kneaded and baked as ſoon as it comes from the Mill, whilſt ’tis yet warm, yields blacker and worſer Bread?
    • 1911, Joseph Edward Harry, The Antigone of Sophocles (Cincinnati: The Robert Clarke Company), page 65
      Creon. What worser ill is now to follow this?
    • 2002, Ron Lovell, Murder at Yaquina Head
      Momma says that’s an even worser word to say.
    • 2022 October 14, Marina Hyde, “So farewell, Kwasi. Your career died so Liz Truss’s might live for at least 15 more minutes”, in The Guardian[1]:
      Things went from worse to worser after Truss’s Wednesday night appearance before the 1922, which you might know is that weirdo committee where they bang the desks and honk in-group gibberish like it’s Hogwarts for grownups and their house has just won a flying pensions-crashing match.

Adverb

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worser

  1. (archaic or nonstandard) worse.

Usage notes

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Common in the 16th and 17th centuries, but now found only in some regional dialects, and considered nonstandard.

References

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  • The Oxford English Dictionary, second edition.

Anagrams

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