Worse adv.

Forms: α. 1 wiers, wirs, 1–2 wyrs; 2–6 wurs, 3 wrs(e, 3–6 wurse; 3–6 wors, 3– worse, 4 worsse, 6 woorse. β. 2–6 wers, 4–6 werse, 5 werce; 5–7 wars, 5, 8–9 north. warse, 5–6 warsse. [OE. wyrs, wiers = OS. wirs, OHG. wirs (MHG. wirs, würs), ON. verr (for *wers; hence WAR adv.; Sw. värr), Goth. wairs: see WORSE a.] Used as the comparative of the advs. badly, ill, evil, evilly.

  1.  More badly or wickedly; more censurably or foolishly in regard to conduct.

  In do worse, the word is now perh. usually regarded as the neuter adj. or sb.: see WORSE sb. 2 b.

c. 897.  K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., xxviii. 189. Ða underðioddan ðæt hie wiers ne don ðonne him man bebeode.

a. 1000.  Sal. & Sat., 181. Wyrs deð se ðe liehð oððe ðæs soðes ansæceð.

a. 1250.  Owl & Night., 1416. Such heo mahte beo of golnesse, Þat sunegeþ wurse in modinesse.

c. 1315.  Shoreham, III. 221. Þou halst wel wors þane masseday Þane man myd hys workynge.

1340–70.  Alex. & Dind., 783. Wers wirchen no folk þan ȝe weiȝes alle.

1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. III. 102. Unwittily, ywys, wrouht hastou ofte, Bote worse wrouhtest þou neuere þen whon þou fals toke. Ibid., A. XI. 279. Þanne marie þe maudeleyn who miȝte do wers?

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Sel. Wks., I. 44. But oure Pharisees to dai done wel wers.

1546.  J. Heywood, Prov., I. xi. (1867), 32. We maie doo much ill, er we doo much wars.

1781.  Cowper, Table Talk, 518. I judg’d a man of sense could scarce do worse Than caper in the morris-dance of verse.

  b.  More severely, hardly, harshly, unkindly or unfavorably.

  † To do (a person) worse, to treat more harshly or severely. cf. WORSE sb. 2 b, and, for the use of the adv., WOE A. 6.

a. 1200.  Moral Ode, 236 (Lambeth). Hi hem deð wa inoch … Nute hi hweþer hom deþ wurs [Trin. Coll. doð wers].

c. 1200.  Vices & Virtues, 57. Ðeih he betere do ðan an oðer, þeih hweðere he læte wers of him seluen, ðanne he do of oðre.

a. 1225.  Owl & Night., 793. Telstu bi me þe wrs [Cott. wurs] for þan Þat ic bute enne craft ne kan?

c. 1400.  26 Pol. Poems, ii. 66. Euel thou spekest, worse dost mene.

c. 1440.  Generydes, 1365. He hym reportid wers thanne euer he ment.

1472.  Caxton, Recuyell (Sommer), 68. Her sone tytan gouerned hym so malicyously and allewey worse and worse with out ony compassion on the peple.

1535.  Coverdale, Gen. xix. 9. We will deale worse with the then with them.

1553.  Respublica, 13. But let this be taken no wurse then yt ys mente.

1590.  Shaks., Mids. N., III. ii. 45. Now I but chide, but I should vse thee worse. Ibid. (1598), Merry W., II. i. 56. I shall thinke the worse of fat men. Ibid. (1605), Lear, II. ii. 155. My Sister may recieue it much more worsse, To haue her Gentleman abus’d, assaulted.

1667.  in Extr. St. Papers Friends, Ser. III. (1912), 271. They have used us worse then they did before.

1667.  Milton, P. L., XII. 484. Will they not deale Wors with his followers then with him they dealt?

1802.  Wordsw., Stanzas Castle Indol., 33. Some thought far worse of him, and judged him wrong.

1853.  Dickens, Bleak Ho., xiv. I hope you won’t think the worse of me for having made these little appointments at Miss Flite’s.

1880.  Tennyson, Columbus, 106. Being but a Genovese, I am handled worse than had I been a Moor.

1881.  W. Collins, Black Robe, I. 236. You are sure you won’t think the worse of me, if I tell it?

  c.  More carelessly, faultily, unskilfully, imperfectly, etc.

c. 1205.  Lay., 28560. Mon i þan fihte non þer ne mihte ikenne nenne kempe, no wha dude wurse [c. 1275 wors], no wha bet.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 208. Oðer ȝif me ȝemeð wurse ei þing ileaned oðer biteih to witene, þen he wene þet hit ouh.

a. 1250.  Owl & Night., 505. Yet þu singest wrse [Cott. worse] þan þe heysuhge.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. XVII. 322. It doth hym worse þan his wyf or wete to slepe.

c. 1400.  26 Pol. Poems, ix. 51. Here waȝtes, þat þey waye þe wors. Ibid., x. 10. We fareþ as knaue þat takeþ his hyre byfore, Serue his mayster wel þe worse þerfore.

1442.  Rolls of Parlt., V. 64/1. Your Souldeours … the wers paied of theire wagees.

1538.  Starkey, England, 99. The ground also wors tyllyd and occupyd.

1546.  J. Heywood, Prov., I. xi (1867), 32. Who is wurs shod than the shoemakers wyfe? Ibid., 34. At end I might put my winnyng in mine eye, And see neuer the woorse.

1580.  Sidney, in A. Collins, Lett. & Mem. (1746), I. 285. I would … your Worship would learne a better Hand, you write worse then I, and I write evell enough.

1611.  Shaks., Wint. T., IV. i. 30. If euer you haue spent time worse, ere now.

1709.  Pope, Ess. Crit., 35. There are who judge still worse than he can write.

1749.  Fielding, Tom Jones, VIII. vii. I may put all the good I have ever got by you in my eyes, and see never the worse.

1769.  Robertson, Chas. V., III. XI. 368. Raw soldiers, ill-disciplined, and worse commanded.

1821.  Southey, Lett. (1856), III. 288. The prints are ill drawn and worse executed upon stone.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. iii. 394. The English women of that generation were decidedly worse educated than they have been at any other time since the revival of learning.

  2.  More unfortunately, unluckily or unhappily. Worse off, in worse circumstances, less happily or fortunately situated: see OFF adv. 11.

  In early use often with impers. vb. and dat. of person, e.g. (it) is, cheves, limps him wors (cf. WOE A. 3 and Hêliand 1347 ‘wirs is thêm ôðrun’); later, it is, goes, etc., worse with him.

  Prov. to go further, and fare worse: see FURTHER adv. 1 a.

c. 897.  K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., xxxvi. 247. Ðylæs him ðy wirs sie.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., John v. 14. Ne synʓa þu, þe-læs þe þe on sumon þingon wyrs ʓetide.

c. 1100.  O. E. Chron., an. 994 (MS. F). Ac hi þar … wyrs ʓeferdan þonne hi æfre wendan.

c. 1205.  Lay., 3453. Wel oft wes Leir wa and neuer wurs þanne þa.

a. 1250.  Owl & Night., 34. Me is þe wurs þat ich þe iseo.

c. 1275.  Vox & Wolf, 202, in Rel. Ant., II. 276. Therfore ich fare the wors.

a. 1300.  K. Horn, 116. Ofte hadde horn beo wo Ac neure wurs þan him was þo.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 26784. And worthes þam wel wers þan ar, And quilum bettis neuer mare.

c. 1325.  Sir Orfeo, 98 (Sisam). When Orfeo herd þat tiding, Neuer him nas wers for no þing.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. IX. 143. And alle for her forfadres þei ferden þe worse. Ibid., XIV. 226. And if he chyde or chatre, hym chieueth þe worse.

c. 1380.  Sir Ferumb., 4550. Þay awondrede of him ecchon, þat for al þe strokes þat þay gerde on, þat hym nas noȝt þ^e wers.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Miller’s T., 547. And Absolon hym fil no bet ne wers.

c. 1400.  Gamelyn, 740. By god, for thi wordes he shal fare the wors.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 5985. The Troiens full tyte were tyruit to ground: Thurghe Achilles chiualry hom cheuyt the worse.

c. 1400.  26 Pol. Poems, xiv. 51. Make oþere folk þe worse to lyue, For synguler profyt þou wolde haue.

c. 1420.  Anturs of Arth., 615. But him lymped þe worse.

c. 1440.  Alphabet of Tales, 502. ‘Suster, how is it with the?’ And sho ansswerd agayn & said; ‘Nevur wars.’

c. 1460.  Towneley Myst. iii. 191. God spede, dere wife, how fayre ye? Vxor. Now, as euer myght I thryfe, the wars I thee see.

c. 1500.  Melusine, xxix. 216. It is now with me wers than euer was.

1525.  Bp. J. Clerk, in Ellis, Orig. Lett., Ser. II. I. 316. He shall ryght well knowe that he farythe nothyng the wars for the Kynges Highnes and your Grace is recommendation.

1548.  Hall, Chron., Hen. V., 67. But this mocion worse succeded then the entreators deuised.

1573–80.  Tusser, Husb. (1878), 44. But worse shall he speed, that soweth ill seed.

1609.  Rowley, Search for Money (Percy), 12. Seeke him and finde him hee must, or it would goe worse with him.

1639.  G. Plattes, Discov. Subterr. Treas., 21. But the more I tryed the worse I sped.

1667.  Milton, P. L., II. 996. With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout, Confusion worse confounded.

1832.  G. C. Lewis, Lett. (1870), 20. On the whole they are rather worse off than the convicts in the hulks.

1847.  Tennyson, Princess, IV. 467. A clamour grew As of a new-world Babel, woman-built, And worse-confounded.

  b.  Worse and worse. Cf. WORSE a. 2 e.

1487.  Cely Papers (Camden), 159. The exchaunge goyth ever the lenger warsse and wars.

1553.  Respublica, IV. ii. 990. And howe doo youe mend now in your thrifte & your purse? People. As zoure ale in sommer, that is still wurse & wurse.

1562.  J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 105. How dooth your eye syght? woorse and woorse (said he).

1639.  J. Clarke, Parœm., 83. It mends like soure ale in summer worse and worse.

  3.  a. As an intensive, with verbs of hurting, harming, vexing, fearing, hating, etc.: More greatly, severely or intensely; in a greater degree.

1596.  Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., IV. ii. 21. Such as feare the report of a Caliuer, worse then … a hurt wilde-Ducke. Ibid. (1599), Much Ado, II. iii. 163. He would but make a sport of it, and torment the poore Lady worse.

a. 1600.  Donne, Sat., iv. 90. As Itch Scratch’d into smart, and as blunt iron ground Into an edge, hurts worse.

1607.  Shaks., Cor., I. viii. 2. I do hate thee Worse then a Promise-breaker. Ibid. (1613), Hen. VIII., III. ii. 295. Ile startle you Worse then the Sacring Bell.

1667.  Milton, P. L., II. 293. Such another Field They dreaded worse then Hell. Ibid., VI. 607. Back defeated to return They worse abhorr’d.

1676.  Hobbes, Iliad, I. 312. Which, angry as he is, will vex him worse.

a. 1796.  Burns, Ep. from Esopus, 65. Thou know’st, the virtues cannot hate thee worse.

1819.  Keats, Cap & Bells, xviii. That fellow’s voice, which plagues me worse than any.

1819.  Shelley, Cenci, V. ii. 110. That stern yet piteous look, those solemn tones, Wound worse than torture.

  b.  As a diminuent, with verbs of liking, trasting, praising, pleasing, etc.: In a lesser or lower degree, less, less well. Similarly worse at ease, less well at ease.

c. 897.  K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., xix. 143. Ðylæs hira lufu aslaciʓe, & he him ðe wirs liciʓe.

a. 1122.  O. E. Chron., an. 1043 (Laud MS.). Se arcebiscop wende þæt hit sum oðer mann abiddan wolde … þe he his wyrs truwude and uðe.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 9033. Þe wick er neuer þe worthier, Þat man tell quat þe dughti er, Ne þe gode þe wers to prais, Quat-so men o þe wick sais.

1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. III. 168. Nay, lord, quaþ þat ladi, leef him þe worse, Whon ȝe witen witerliche wher þe wrong lihþ.

c. 1530.  Redford, Wyt & Sci., 835 (Manly). Ye, and I lyke him never the wurs.

1592.  Shaks., Ven. & Ad., 774. Your treatise makes me like you worse and worse. Ibid. (1600), A. Y. L., III. ii. 25. The more one sickens, the worse at ease he is. Ibid. (1607), Cor., V. ii. 75. The glorious Gods … loue thee no worse then thy old Father Menenius do’s.

1607.  Harington, in Nugæ Ant. (1804), II. 250. Even Augustus was the worse beloved for appointing an ill man to his successor.

  4.  Worse than used before an adj. (sb., vb.) as a form of pejorative comparison. Cf. MORE C. (adv.) 5.

13[?].  Gosp. Nicod., 741 (MS. G.). Ȝe wers [v.rr. wors, wars] þan wode, how dar ȝe negh þis stede?

1588.  Shaks., Tit. A., II. iii. 175. Oh keepe me from their worse then killing lust. Ibid. (1605), Lear, I. ii. 82. Brutish Villaine; worse then brutish. Ibid. (1607), Timon, III. v. 106. I’m worse then mad.

1671.  Milton, P. R., III. 419. Besides thir other worse then heathenish crimes. Ibid., Samson, 893. By worse than hostile deeds.

1799.  Wordsw., Ruth, 164. O Ruth! I have been worse than dead. Ibid. (1810), Sonn., ‘Yet, yet, Biscayans,’ 3. Else ’twere worse than vain To gather round the bier these festal shows.

1867.  A. T. Drane, Christian Schools, II. vi. 253. Among the scanty relics that escaped the hands of these worse than Vandals.

1867.  Augusta Wilson, Vashti, xx. To feed the worse-than-Ugolino hunger of never-satiated scandal and gossip.

1897.  Westm. Gaz., 18 Jan., 3/2. He deliberately chose to worse than waste his opportunities and his talents.

  5.  Used parenthetically or conjunctionally to introduce an additional clause or sentence containing a further and stronger instance of action which incurs reprobation. Cf. MORE adv. 6.

1784.  Cowper, Task, II. 21. Thus man devotes his brother, and destroys; And, worse than all, and most to be deplor’d,… Chains him, and tasks him, and exacts his sweat With stripes.

1805.  Wordsw., Rob Roy’s Grave, 24. They stir us up against our kind; And worse, against ourselves.

1913.  G. Murray, Euripides, vii. 166. He had denied the gods; worse, he had denounced the doings of the gods as evil.

1926.  H. E. Rollins, Gorgeous Gallery, p. xvi. Worse still, he has omitted one leaf.

  6.  Comb., as worse-affected, -applied, -armed, -bodied, -born, -calculated, -disposed, -executed, -governed, -ordered adjs.; also † worse-opinionated a., having a more unfavorable opinion (of); † worse-willing a., less well-disposed; more unwilling.

1617.  Moryson, Itin., II. 63. It was apparant that either he was growne weaker in iudgement or *worse affected to the Queenes seruice.

1591.  Sylvester, Du Bartas, I. ii. 418. Before the rest of my deere Country-men, Of better wit, but *worse-applyed pen.

1829.  Scott, Anne of G., xxviii. If the Lord of Hosts should cast the balance in behalf of the fewer numbers and *worse-armed party.

1590.  Shaks., Com. Err., IV. ii. 20. Ill fac’d, *worse bodied, shapelesse euery where.

1834.  H. Lytton Bulwer, France, I. 92. That ‘great manner,’… by which the old nobility strove to keep up the distinction between themselves and their *worse-born associates.

1817.  Jas. Mill, Brit. India, III. VI. i. 50. Parliament was so completely an instrument of bad government, that it was *worse calculated to produce good results than the mere arbitrary will of a King.

1579.  T. F., Newes fr. North, D j b. I am very sure, that many are *wurse disposed, and much more vngodly in high and honorable calling.

1820.  Q. Mus. Mag., II. 454. After irregular, ill-directed, and *worse-executed rehearsals.

1672.  Sir W. Temple, Ess. Govt., Misc. (1680), 69. Fugitives out of some *worse governed Family.

1642.  Heylin, Hist. Episc., II. vi. 436. Confessors … who … having suffered much in testimonie of their perseverance, became the *worse-opinionated of those, who had not beene endued with an equall constancie.

a. 1715.  South, Serm., IV. 366. An ill-inclined Judgment, and *worse-ordered Morals.

1549.  Coverdale, Erasm. Par. 1 Cor. ix. 20–3. That … I might, folowing their mindes, allure them either vnto Christ, or at the least, not make them thereunto *worse willing by displeasing their mindes.

1550.  Somerset, trans. Calvin’s Epistle, B ij b. But this muste not astonyshe vs, nor make vs wurse willynge or fearefull.

1584.  R. Scot, Discov. Witchcr., II. ii. (1886), 15. The people would be woorse willing to accuse them; for feare least they worke revenge upon them.