worst

worst¹ [wə:st US wə:rst] adj [the superlative of bad]

[: Old English; Origin: wierresta, wyrsta]

1.) [only before noun]

worse than anything or anyone else

→↑best

▪ This is the worst recession for fifty years.

▪ My worst fear was that we would run out of food.

▪ What is the worst possible thing that can happen?

2.) be your own worst enemy

to cause a lot of problems for yourself because of your own behaviour

3.) come off worst

to lose a fight or argument

worst ²

worst² n

1.) the worst

the person or thing that is worse than all others

→↑the best worst (that)

▪ This year's harvest is the worst that people can remember.

▪ Last year was by far the worst (=much worse than any other) for road accidents.

▪ I think the worst is over now.

▪ The worst of it is (=the worst part of the situation is) , I can't tell anyone what's happening.

at its/his etc worst

▪ You saw the garden at its worst, I'm afraid (=when it is worse than any other time) .

2.) the worst of sth

most of something, or the most unpleasant or difficult part of it

▪ The worst of the storm seemed to be over.

3.) expect/fear the worst

to expect or fear that something will not be successful or something bad will happen

▪ When it got so late and they still weren't home, I began to fear the worst.

4.) get/have the worst of it

spoken to lose a fight or argument

5.) at (the) worst

if things are as bad as they can be

▪ Choosing the right software can be time-consuming at best and confusing or frustrating at worst .

6.) do your/his/her/their worst

used to say that someone can try to harm you but they will not be able to

▪ They can do their worst now, because I'm leaving in three weeks.

7.) if the worst comes to the worst

especially BrE if worst comes to worst especially AmE

if the situation develops in the worst possible way

▪ If the worst comes to the worst, we'll sell the car.

worst ³

worst³ adv [the superlative of badly]

1.) most badly

→↑best

▪ Aid is being sent to areas that have been worst affected by the earthquake.

▪ the worst-dressed man in the office

2.) worst of all

used to say what is the worst part of a situation

▪ She had no office of her own and, worst of all, she didn't even have her own computer.