What does the idiom "worst for the wear" mean?

Question

I've searched and found that it's usually used as "no worst for the wear".

Answer 1

worse for wear generally means something is old, tired, worn etc

Answer 2

It's normally "worse" as opposed to "worst", and when referring to an object it means that it's worn out and generally used- it can be substituted for "past its best" in that respect.

Example- "His shoes were a little worse for wear, so he bought some new ones"

When talking about a person, it normally means they're drunk, or describes how they look as a result of being drunk- but it's has more negative/critical connotations than simply describing someone as "tipsy". If someone was drunk to the point of falling over and physically didn't look so good, then you can use it.

Example- "At the end of the evening at the pub, we all looked a little worse for wear"

Answer 3

When you wear the same clothes or shoes a lot, they wear out. "No worst for the wear", means that the "thing" has been through a lot of "wear" (stress, use, etc) and is not very worn or damaged... on the other hand "worst for the wear" is often applied to something that looks significantly worst for what it's been through. An example, a homeless addict or terminally ill person may look worse for the wear.

Answer 4

No Worse For The Wear

Answer 5

The actual expression is "no worse for the wear", which means suffering no consequences after a harrowing or difficult experience.

Answer 6

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bad neighborhood does not necessarily mean black neighborhood. Like the other user said, some white neighborhoods are bad because of the drugs. I would consider some neighborhoods to be bad because they're populated with college kids who are always loud and party at odd times =/ Bad neighborhoods are ones which are not too quiet, peaceful, or safe. These kinds of neighborhoods are not black..they're just ghetto (which can be filled with any race) =P

Answer 7

If something's worse for wear, it has been used for a long time and, consequently, isn't in very good condition. A person who's worse for wear is drunk or high on drugs and looking rough.

Answer 8

it means that even though the item is used thoroughly, that it shows no signs of being used.

Example:
Even though the punter has appeared in every game this season, his uniform is "no worse for the wear".

Answer 9

The phrase is most commonly "none the worse for wear" or "no worse for wear".

"None the..." plus a comparative adjective is another way of saying "not any", perhaps a little archaic-sounding but still in use in standard written English, a lot of spoken dialects, and in fixed expressions. Compare "none the less", "none the richer", "none the wiser" etc.

"For wear" is a somewhat tricky use of "for" which means something like "despite" "or taking into account that...". It's also seen in expressions like "For a beginner, that's pretty good." In contemporary American English, a more explicit equivalent would be "despite being so worn, it's not any worse than it was" or "for being so worn, it's not any worse than it was." The positive form "the worse for wear" just means "worse than it was because of wear".

With the positive form, "for" has the same sense, but you would say "because of" instead of "despite" as an equivalent. "For" is unusual in that it can indicate both cause and "failure to cause" (you might say it indicates potential causality without indicating the result). You can say "Bob learned his lesson from the accident; he was the wiser for it." or "Bob didn't learn his lesson from the accident; he was none the wiser for it."

"Worst" is wrong, and "no the worse" is wrong (in standard English).