Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to worst
Participle: worsted
Gerund: worsting
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | worst |
| you | worst |
| he;she;it | worsts |
| we | worst |
| you | worst |
| they | worst |
Perfect
| I | have worsted |
| you | have worsted |
| he;she;it | has worsted |
| we | have worsted |
| you | have worsted |
| they | have worsted |
Past
| I | worsted |
| you | worsted |
| he;she;it | worsted |
| we | worsted |
| you | worsted |
| they | worsted |
Pluperfect
| I | had worsted |
| you | had worsted |
| he;she;it | had worsted |
| we | had worsted |
| you | had worsted |
| they | had worsted |
Future
| I | will worst |
| you | will worst |
| he;she;it | will worst |
| we | will worst |
| you | will worst |
| they | will worst |
Future Perfect
| I | will have worsted |
| you | will have worsted |
| he;she;it | will have worsted |
| we | will have worsted |
| you | will have worsted |
| they | will have worsted |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | worst |
| you | worst |
| he;she;it | worst |
| we | worst |
| you | worst |
| they | worst |
Perfect
| I | have worsted |
| you | have worsted |
| he;she;it | have worsted |
| we | have worsted |
| you | have worsted |
| they | have worsted |
Imperfect
| I | worsted |
| you | worsted |
| he;she;it | worsted |
| we | worsted |
| you | worsted |
| they | worsted |
Pluperfect
| I | had worsted |
| you | had worsted |
| he;she;it | had worsted |
| we | had worsted |
| you | had worsted |
| they | had worsted |
Conditional
Present
| I | would worst |
| you | would worst |
| he;she;it | would worst |
| we | would worst |
| you | would worst |
| they | would worst |
Perfect
| I | would have worsted |
| you | would have worsted |
| he;she;it | would have worsted |
| we | would have worsted |
| you | would have worsted |
| they | would have worsted |
Imperative
| you | worst |
| we | Let's worst |
| you | worst |
Verbs conjugated like 'worst'
abandon,
abduct,
abear,
aberr,
abject,
abord,
abort,
abound,
abraid,
abray,
abrook,
abscind,
abscond,
absist,
absorb,
abstain,
abstract,
accend,
accent,
accept, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'worst'
worse,
boast,
boost,
bost,
burst,
coast,
corset,
cost,
dort,
doust,
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. O.E. wyrresta, from P.Gmc. *wers-ista- (cf. O.S. wirsista, O.N. verstr, O.Fris. wersta, O.H.G. wirsisto), superlative of PIE *wers- "to confuse, mix up" (see worse). The verb meaning "damage, inflict loss upon" is first recorded 1602, from the adj. Phrase in the worst way (1839) is from Amer.Eng. sense of "most severely."
2. From Middle English worste, wurste, warste, werste, wirste, from Old English wierrest, from Proto-Germanic *wirsistaz, superlative form of *ubilaz (“bad, evil”); compare worse.
3. Cognate with Old Saxon wirsista, wirrista (“worst”), Old High German wirst, wirsesto, wirsisto (“worst”), Danish værst (“worst”), Swedish värst (“worst”), Icelandic verstur (“worst”).
Sample Sentences
-
Anne haggard, Mary coarse, every face in the neighbourhood worsting. [1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=III or IV), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC:]
-
The […] Philistines were worsted by the captivated ark. [1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:]
-
Her joy and pride in the honour paid to her darling son Adam was beginning to be worsted in the conflict with the jealousy and fretfulness which had revived when Adam came to tell her that Captain Donnithorne desired him to join the dancers in the hall. [1859, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “The Dance”, in Adam Bede […], volume II, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book third, pages 205–206:]
-
Jo carried her love of liberty and hate of conventionalities to such an unlimited extent that she naturally found herself worsted in an argument. [1868–1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, Little Women: […], (please specify |part=1 or 2), Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC:]
-
The higher classes see the unions, the strikes, the May Day Celebrations, and feel the calamity that is threatening them, and their terror passes into an instinct of self-defense and hatred. They know that if for one instant they are worsted in the struggle with their oppressed slaves, they will perish, because the slaves are exasperated and their exasperation is growing more intense with every day of oppression. [1894, Leo Tolstoï [i.e., Leo Tolstoy], “Contradiction between Our Life and our Christian Conscience”, in Constance Garnett, transl., The Kingdom of God is within You: or, Christianity Not as a Mystical Doctrine, but as a New Life-conception. […], London: Walter Scott, […], →OCLC, page 120:]