worst
/wɜɹst/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.93 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
superlative form of bad: most bad
adj
superlative form of bad: most bad
adj
superlative form of bad: most bad
adj
superlative form of bad: most bad
Example Sentences
- "I think putting oil on a burn is the worst thing you can do."
- "That's the worst news I've had all day."
- "The worst storm we had last winter knocked down our power lines."
- "None of these photographs of me are good, but this one is definitely the worst."
- "My sore leg hurts worst when it's cold and rainy."
- "This is the worst-written essay I've ever seen."
Etymology
From Middle English worste, wurste, warste, werste, wirste, from Old English wierrest, from Proto-Germanic *wirsistaz, superlative form of *ubilaz (“bad, evil”); compare worse. Cognate with Old Saxon wirsista, wirrista (“worst”), Old High German wirst, wirsesto, wirsisto (“worst”), Danish værst (“worst”), Swedish värst (“worst”), Icelandic verstur (“worst”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: worste, wierrest, *wirsistaz, Worst
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /wɜɹst/
- British English: /wɜːst/