Skip to main content
worseness

worseness

1 8.0
A state when a problem becomes more serious or harmful
  • noun
  • /ˈwɜːrsnəs/
: peoría
  • The team's performance reflected a worseness that was disappointing to the fans.

The worseness of someone else's circumstance doesn't change that.

Examples

  • In order of increasing worseness, we have Crunchy Cheetos for one point.

  • The worseness of someone else's circumstance doesn't change that.

  • The worseness of the economic crisis affected many households in the city.

  • Despite the worseness of the storm, we still decided to go on our trip.

Synonyms

severity
vsworseness
51 5.1

The level of how bad or serious something is

is an overall state showing a greater amount of harm or badness
worsening
vsworseness
14 3.9

Becoming worse or more serious over time

refers to a state rather than the ongoing process of decline
badness
vsworseness
10 3.4

The state of being unpleasant, harmful or wrong

expresses a larger, more intense state of being bad or harmful
harshness
vsworseness
8 4.1

Very severe or unkind treatment that causes harm

means a greater amount of general badness rather than unkind manner

Antonyms

562 1.1

A change that makes something better

How Bad

severity
51 5.1
worseness
1 8.0
badness
10 3.4
neutrality
24 4.4
goodness
130 1.0

Surface Forms

worseness singular
worsenesses plural

Morphology

worseness = worse (transparent) = worse + ness

Direct nominalization of the comparative adjective 'worse' with the productive suffix '-ness' yields 'the state of being worse', which is straightforward for learners familiar with both elements.

Etymology

Worseness comes from the word worse ('more bad') plus the ending -ness (which makes a word into a 'state' or 'quality'). So, worseness simply means the 'state of being more bad' or a greater degree of badness, which is why we use it to talk about something becoming worse.