Meanings
present singular third person goes from bad to worse · participle present going from bad to worse · past went from bad to worse · participle past gone from bad to worse
- To become even worse.
Unhappily, since this was written, mining has gone from bad to worse: some mines are quite given up, others only keep their pumping-engine at work; even the best have closed their poorer workings.
1874 September, “Pilchards and Pilchard-Catchers; or, How We Live in West Penwith”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CXVI, number DCCVII, Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons; London: T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, footnote, page 304, column 1
Translations
Esperanto fali de sitelo en barelon
- fali de sitelo en barelonTranslations
Finnish mennä entistä pahemmaksi, mennä ojasta allikkoon
- mennä entistä pahemmaksiTranslations
- mennä ojasta allikkoonTranslations
French aller de mal en pis
- aller de mal en pisTranslations
Māori nāwai i hē ka hē kē atu
- nāwai i hē ka hē kē atuTranslations
Polish pogarszać się, pogorszyć się
- pogarszać sięTranslations
- pogorszyć sięTranslations
Portuguese ir de mal a pior
- ir de mal a piorTranslations
Russian всё хуже и хуже
- всё хуже и хуже (vsjo xuže i xuže)Translations
Spanish ir de mal a peor, ir de mal en peor
- ir de mal a peorTranslations
- ir de mal en peorTranslations
Cite this entry
go from bad to worse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20from%20bad%20to%20worse
“go from bad to worse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20from%20bad%20to%20worse. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “go from bad to worse,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20from%20bad%20to%20worse.
Source: go from bad to worse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.