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worm

worm

40 8.5
A person who is sneaky and not worthy of respect
  • noun
  • /wɜrm/
  • Offensive
: canalla
  • After what she did, I can't help but see her as just a worm, unworthy of trust.

The moral of the story is both of the characters have worms for brains.

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Examples

  • Indeed, there is no goodness in the worm.

  • If we don't resolve to live like worms, the Company doesn't prosper.

    Academic text (2002)
  • A rank a miserable little worm like yourself could never hope to achieve.

  • But she always had this saying, "The worm will turn," that she'd end her conversations with.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • We are mere worms, to use one phrase at a certain point.

  • Everyone knew he was a worm, always sneaking around and trying to betray his friends.

  • He acted like a worm, crawling back to them after they had treated him so poorly.

Synonyms

insect
vsworm
  • Offensive
10 9.1

A person treated as unimportant or disgusting

is sneaky and morally corrupt, not just small or insignificant
slimeball
vsworm
  • Offensive
9 8.2

A person who lies and cannot be trusted

is sneaky and morally corrupt beyond simple untrustworthiness
louse
vsworm
  • Offensive
8 8.4

An unpleasant person who treats others badly or lies to them

is sneaky and morally corrupt rather than just unethical behavior
crumb
vsworm
  • Offensive
6 9.2

A person who is mean and cannot be trusted

is morally corrupt and sneaky rather than only insulted casually
sewer rat
vsworm
  • Offensive
4 9.0

An insulting name for a person thought to be very bad and not to be trusted

is sneaky and morally corrupt rather than merely degraded
dirt ball
vsworm
  • Offensive
1 8.7

A person who is very unpleasant and treats others badly

is morally corrupt and sneaky rather than only unpleasant

Antonyms

∞ 1.1

A person admired for brave actions and good qualities

125 3.0

Seen by people as good and socially acceptable

Idioms

the worm turns
  • Informal
2 9.9

A change when someone treated badly starts to fight back

People who act early are more likely to succeed

oh worm
  • Slang
1 9.9

A short phrase people say to show mild disappointment

1 9.1

To be very ashamed and think you are worthless

Compounds

4 7.9

Rotten food that is not safe to eat

Guinea worm
  • Specialized
2 9.5

A small parasite that lives in people and comes out through the skin causing strong pain after drinking dirty water

parasitic worm
  • Specialized
1 4.4

A small animal that lives inside another animal and takes its food, often causing sickness

1 2.1

A small red earthworm that lives in soil, helps make soil better, and people use it as fishing bait

1 7.4

A small insect that eats tree leaves, bark, or wood and damages the tree

Guinea worm disease
  • Specialized
1 6.6

An infection from drinking water with baby worms that causes painful blisters when the worm comes out

wiggle worm
  • Baby Talk
1 7.5

A person, especially a child, who cannot sit still and keeps moving

worm gear
  • Specialized
1 6.1

A gear with a screw shaft that turns a toothed wheel to change direction and make turning slower and stronger

worm fish
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A small, long tropical fish that lives in shallow water and hides in seagrass

A worm with a long body made of many ring-shaped parts like an earthworm or leech

tomato worm
  • Specialized
1 7.2

A large green caterpillar with white stripes that eats tomato and tobacco plants

1 2.5

A worm that people use as bait to catch fish

peanut worm
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A small sea worm that pulls its front part into its body and looks like a peanut

nematode worm
  • Specialized
1 7.1

A very small thin animal with a pointed body that lives in soil or inside other living things

army worm
  • Specialized
1 7.4

A caterpillar that moves in large groups and eats crops like grass and grain

1 7.7

A small thin snake that looks like a worm and lives under stones or logs

polychaete worm
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A sea worm with many body segments and small bristles on each segment

annelid worm
  • Specialized
1 7.7

A long soft animal with a body made of many rings, like earthworms and leeches

worm fence
  • Archaic
1 9.1

A fence made of wooden rails laid in a zigzag pattern

velvet worm
  • Specialized
1 9.8

A small soft animal with velvety skin that catches prey with sticky slime

1 8.1

A small caterpillar with legs only near its head and tail that moves by making a loop

beard worm
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A thin sea animal that lives in a tube on the deep ocean floor and has tentacles

worm salamander
  • Specialized
1 9.1

A small thin salamander that looks like a worm and lives on the Pacific coast of the United States

1 9.9

A young insect that makes holes in apples and eats their insides

1 8.9

A long soft sea animal that can stretch and reach prey with a thin mouth tube

worm lizard
  • Specialized
1 9.7

A reptile without legs that lives underground and looks like a worm

oligochaete worm
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A small worm with tiny bristles that lives in soil or water

worm wheel
  • Specialized
1 8.4

A gear that fits with a screw-shaped gear to turn movement at a right angle

bladder worm
  • Specialized
9.9

A soft sac in an animal that is filled with fluid and contains a young tapeworm

8.9

A large earthworm that comes out at night or when the ground is wet and people use for fishing

gun worm
  • Archaic
9.9

A tool like a corkscrew for pulling unfired bullets from a musket barrel

proboscis worm
  • Specialized
9.9

A soft sea animal like a thin worm that stretches a long head to catch food

polychete worm
  • Specialized
9.9

A worm that lives in the sea with many small bristles on its sides that help it move

potato worm
  • Specialized
7.8

A large green caterpillar with white stripes that eats potato and tomato leaves

tongue worm
  • Specialized
9.9

A small wormlike parasite with hooks that lives inside the nose of animals like dogs or cows

trematode worm
  • Specialized
9.0

A flat parasite with suckers that lives in animals or people

spiny-headed worm
  • Specialized
9.9

A parasite that lives in animal intestines and can pull its spiny head back to hold on

vinegar worm
  • Specialized
9.9

A very small worm that lives in vinegar and eats tiny living things that make it turn sour

7.2

A container where worms turn kitchen scraps into soil for plants

How Despicable

villain
332 3.3
rat
  • Offensive
286 7.3
worm
  • Offensive
40 8.5
scoundrel
  • Offensive
47 6.5
sneak
  • Offensive
14 6.1
jerk
  • Offensive
683 4.2

Surface Forms

worm singular
worms plural

Etymology

The word worm is used as an insult because people long ago compared weak or low people to the small crawling animal wyrm; the animal image gave a sense of someone contemptible and sneaky. That's why calling someone a worm means they are not worthy of respect.