English → Latin
“worse” in Latin
dēteriorworse, lower, inferior, poorermalusunpleasant, distressing, painful, nasty, bad; unpleasant to the senses, sight, smell, taste, touch; bad, evil, wicked, mcorrumpōto pervert, corrupt, deprave or infect; to gain to oneself by gifts, etc.; bribe; to spoil or rotdēprāvōto pervert, distort or disfigure; to seduce, corrupt or depravedolorpain, ache, hurt; anguish, grief, sorrow; indignation, resentment, anger, fury, vengeance
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
worse
deterior (that which has degenerated, from good to bad): pejor (that which was originally bad, but is now more evil than it was). To make worse, deterius facere or in deterius mutare aliquid (to make worse instead of better; opposed to corrigere): in pejus mutare or vertere et mutare (opposed to in melius mutare): corrumpere: depravare (to corrupt, deprave): aliquid exulcerare (e.g., pain, dolorem; affairs, matters, res): exasperare aliquid (e.g., a cough, tussim): to make anything worse (i. e., represent a thing worse than it really is), aliquid verbis exasperare: to make the evil worse, malum augere (to increase an existing evil): malum malo addere (to add a new evil to one already existing): you would only make the evil worse, in ulcere tamquam unguis exsisteres (Proverbially, Cic., Dom., 5, 12). To grow worse, deteriorem fieri (to grow worse instead of better: e.g., anybody’s circumstances): pejorem fieri (of a sick person; Cels., 3, 5): in pejorem partem verti et mutari: in pejus mutari (to turn to the worse): aggravescere: ingravescere (to become more oppressive, of any evil; e.g., an illness): the matter cannot grow or get worse than it already is, pejore loco non potest res esse, quam, in quo nunc sita est: the disease is growing worse and worse, in dies morbus ingravescit: to have grown worse, deteriore statu or conditione esse: pejore loco esse (relative to quality, circumstances, etc.): he will not be the worse for it, *non male sibi consultet. Proverbially. His bark is worse than his bite, vehementius latrat quam mordet. Vid: also, BAD.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for worse?
- The usual Latin words for “worse” are dēterior, malus, corrumpō; also dēprāvō, dolor. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.