| 更坏 | gèng huài | worse |  |
| 低落 | dī luò | downcast / gloomy / to decline / to get worse |  |
| 高下 | gāo xià | relative superiority (better or worse, stronger or weaker, above or below etc) | |
| 失守 | shī shǒu | (military) (of a city etc) to fall into enemy hands / (fig.) to take a turn for the worse | |
| 变坏 | biàn huài | to get worse / to degenerate | |
| 雪上加霜 | xuě shàng jiā shuāng | (idiom) to make matters even worse / to add insult to injury | |
| 有过之而无不及 | yǒu guò zhī ér wú bù jí | not to be inferior in any aspects (idiom) / to surpass / to outdo / (derog.) to be even worse | |
| 纸上谈兵 | zhǐ shàng tán bīng | lit. military tactics on paper (idiom) / fig. theoretical discussion that is worse than useless in practice / armchair strategist / idle theorizing / cf Zhao Kuo 趙括|赵括[Zhao4 Kuo4] leading an army of 400,000 to total annihilation at battle of Changping 長平之戰|长平之战[Chang2 ping2 zhi1 Zhan4] in 260 BC | |
| 有增无减 | yǒu zēng wú jiǎn | to increase without letup / to get worse and worse (idiom) | |
| 同甘共苦 | tóng gān gòng kǔ | shared delights and common hardships (idiom) / to share life's joys and sorrows / for better or for worse | |
| 甘苦 | gān kǔ | good times and hardships / joys and tribulations / for better or for worse | |
| 火上加油 | huǒ shàng jiā yóu | to add oil to the fire (idiom) / fig. to aggravate a situation / to enrage people and make matters worse | |
| 饮鸩止渴 | yǐn zhèn zhǐ kě | lit. drinking poison in the hope of quenching one's thirst (idiom) / fig. a supposed remedy that only makes matters worse | |
| 江河日下 | jiāng hé rì xià | rivers pour away by the day (idiom) / going from bad to worse / deteriorating day by day | |
| 火上浇油 | huǒ shàng jiāo yóu | to pour oil on the fire (idiom) / fig. to aggravate a situation / to enrage people and make matters worse | |
| 抱薪救火 | bào xīn jiù huǒ | lit. to carry firewood to put out a fire (idiom) / fig. to make a problem worse by inappropriate action | |
| 欲盖弥彰 | yù gài mí zhāng | trying to hide it makes it more conspicuous (idiom) / A cover up only makes matters worse. | |
| 挖肉补疮 | wā ròu bǔ chuāng | to cut one's flesh to cover a sore (idiom) / faced with a current crisis, to make it worse by a temporary expedient | |
| 救焚益薪 | jiù fén yì xīn | add firewood to put out the flames (idiom) / fig. ill-advised action that only makes the problem worse / to add fuel to the fire | |
| 穷当益坚 | qióng dāng yì jiān | poor but ambitious (idiom) / hard-pressed but determined / the worse one's position, the harder one must fight back | |
| 偷鸡不成蚀把米 | tōu jī bù chéng shí bǎ mǐ | lit. to try to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice used to lure it (idiom) / fig. to try to gain an advantage only to end up worse off / to go for wool and come back shorn | |
| 有福同享，有祸同当 | yǒu fú tóng xiǎng , yǒu huò tóng dāng | To enjoy blessings and endure misfortune together (idiom) / for better or for worse | |
| 有福同享，有难同当 | yǒu fú tóng xiǎng , yǒu nàn tóng dāng | To enjoy blessings and endure misfortune together (idiom) / for better or for worse | |
| 禽兽不如 | qín shòu bù rú | worse than a beast / to behave immorally | |
| 猪狗不如 | zhū gǒu bù rú | worse than a dog or pig / lower than low | |
| 雷大雨小 | léi dà yǔ xiǎo | lit. much thunder but little rain / fig. a lot of talk but little action / his bark is worse than his bite | |
| 雷声大，雨点小 | léi shēng dà , yǔ diǎn xiǎo | loud thunder, but only tiny drops of rain (idiom) / a lot of talk, but no action / action speaks louder than words / his bite is worse than his bark | |
| 越描越黑 | yuè miáo yuè hēi | lit. the more you touch things up, the darker they get / fig. to only make matters worse | |
| 一代不如一代 | yī dài bù rú yī dài | to be getting worse with each generation | |
| 一条绳上的蚂蚱 | yī tiáo shéng shàng de mà zha | lit. grasshoppers tied together with a piece of string (idiom) / fig. people who are in it together for better or worse / people who will sink or swim together | |
| 越演越烈 | yuè yǎn yuè liè | to be intensifying / to be getting worse and worse / to start to run rampant | |
| 比烂 | bǐ làn | to compare two unsatisfactory things / to argue that others have similar or worse faults (as a response to criticism) / whataboutery | |
| 一日不如一日 | yī rì bù rú yī rì | to be getting worse by the day | |
| 添堵 | tiān dǔ | to make people feel even more stressed or annoyed (coll.) / to make traffic congestion even worse | |
| 治丝益棼 | zhì sī yì fén | lit. try to straighten out silk threads only to tangle them further (idiom) / fig. to try to help but end up making things worse | |
| 不怕贼偷就怕贼惦记 | bù pà zéi tōu jiù pà zéi diàn jì | much worse than having something stolen is when a thief has you in his sights (idiom) | |
| 先天不足，后天失调 | xiān tiān bù zú , hòu tiān shī tiáo | to be born with a weak constitution and suffer from ill health during one's life / (fig.) to be problematic from the start, and get even worse over time | |
