Meaning: used to say that something has made a bad or difficult situation even worse
Similar Expressions
- To make matters worse, it started to rain.
- On top of that, it started to rain.
- It was already bad, but then it started to rain.
- Also, it started to rain.
We use this when something or some event causes an already bad situation to become even worse. Basically, a situation goes from being bad to being terrible. This expression does not add new information. It just adds feeling and emotion to our language.
- My car broke down. It started to rain.
- My car broke down. To make matters worse, it started to rain.
We use this phrase at the beginning of a sentence that tells what thing or event made or is making a situation worse.
- To make matters worse, our best salesman quit a week before our big sales presentation.
A) I forgot my wife's birthday yesterday.
B) That's not good.
A) To make matters worse, I went out last night drinking with my friends.
A) I wasn't prepared for the meeting at work today. And to make matters worse, the CEO actually came to the meeting. I looked really bad.
B) That is unlucky.
A) We couldn't find a hotel in the city. To make matters worse, all the plane tickets were sold out, so we had to take a bus.
B) That is too bad.
The more English idioms and expressions that you know, the easier it will be for you to have conversation in English. If you study these free English lessons about commonly used English expressions and idioms consistently, then over time, you will build a solid English vocabulary that will help you speak English fluently.