worsen

From Middle English wursnen; equivalent to worse +‎ -en.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɝsn̩/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɜːsn̩/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)sən

worsen (third-person singular simple present worsens, present participle worsening, simple past and past participle worsened)

1. (transitive) To make worse; to impair.

   Antonyms: ameliorate, improve, meliorate, mitigate

   Near-synonyms: aggravate, exacerbate; degrade, deteriorate; see also Thesaurus:aggravate

   Global warming has worsened the weather.

   As for further retaliation: adding such fuel to the fire, as it were, will only worsen the already unpleasant state of affairs.

   • 1829, Robert Southey, “(please specify the page)”, in Sir Thomas More: or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:

     It is apparent that, in the particular point of which we have been conversing, their condition is greatly worsened.

2. (intransitive) To become worse; to get worse.

   Synonyms: decline, deteriorate; go downhill, go south; see also Thesaurus:worsen

   Antonym: improve

   Coordinate term: recover

   The weather has worsened.

   • 1961 January, “Talking of Trains: Flooding at Lewes”, in Trains Illustrated, page 5:

     During the day conditions worsened quickly—for example, a 2-6-0 on the Uckfield line suddenly encountered flood water high enough to enter its ashpan and extinguish its fire—until lock gates up-river at Barcombe gave way and a tidal wave rolled down the valley meeting head-on a spring tide rolling up from the coast.

   • 2023 April 5, Mel Holley, “Network News: TPE faces uncertain future after high cancellation rate”, in RAIL, number 980, page 8:

     TPE's cancellation score worsened from 7.2% to 23.8% when adjusted to include pre-cancellations (P*-coded) owing to a shortage of train crew.

3. (transitive, obsolete) To get the better of; to worst.

   Synonyms: better, defeat, overpower

• Rewson, owners, resown, rowens, snower, sworne

• werrsenn, wursen, wursien, wursin (Early Middle English)
• worsi (Kent)

Inherited from Old English wiersian; equivalent to worse (“worse”) +‎ -en (infinitival suffix).

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɛrsən/, /ˈwursən/

worsen (third-person singular simple present worseth, present participle worsende, worsynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle worsed)

1. To worsen; to become worse.
2. To impair or damage; to make worse.

• wursnen (rare)

• English: worse (obsolete)

• “wersen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.