Meanings
adjectiveworst-case (not comparable)
- not comparableIn the least favorable of all possible circumstances.
In a worst-case scenario, according to the ILO, 51 million jobs could be lost in 2009.
1 more example
In the summer, the RSSB calculated that passengers stood a 1-in-11,000 chance of catching COVID-19 on a train - a statistic it felt was actually a worst-case figure, with the risk probably even lower.
2020 November 18, Paul Clifton, “We have always cleaned trains. Now, we are sanitising them”, in Rail, pages 32–33
Synonyms & antonyms
Opposite
Cite this entry
APA
worst-case. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/worst-case
MLA
“worst-case.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/worst-case. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “worst-case,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/worst-case.
Source: worst-case on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.