“Worst than” or “worse than”: which is correct?

Why people get it wrong

People often confuse worst with worse because they are both forms of the adjective “bad.” Worse is the comparative form used to compare two things, while worst is the superlative form used to describe the extreme or highest degree of something. In the phrase worse than, the comparison is between two entities, hence the comparative worse is correct.

Examples with worse than

• This headache is worse than the one I had yesterday.
• Her performance was worse than last time.
• This exam was worse than any I have taken before.