Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Worst in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels worst as adjective. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913adjective
Worst

[OE. werst, worste, wurste, AS. wyrst, wierst, wierrest. See Worse, a.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordworst
Part of speechadjective
Historical etymology[OE. werst, worste, wurste, AS. wyrst, wierst, wierrest. See Worse, a.]
Selected historical definitionBad, evil, or pernicious, in the highest degree, whether in a physical or moral sense. See Worse.
Signed record IDwebster1913-worst-adjective-bfd96b64ec92
Source locatorCIDE.W, paragraph 6134; Gutenberg eBook 669
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 669Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "worst" is labeled adjective. Its etymology is recorded as: "[OE. werst, worste, wurste, AS. wyrst, wierst, wierrest. See Worse, a.]" The selected historical definition says: "Bad, evil, or pernicious, in the highest degree, whether in a physical or moral sense. See Worse."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

More released W records

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noun

Wrong

[AS. wrang. See Wrong, a.]

Webster 1913 exact recordverb

Worse

[OE. wursien, AS. wyrsian to become worse.]

Webster 1913 exact record

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