Verschlimmbessern

Language: German · [fɛɐ̯ˈʃlɪmˌbɛsɐn] · Pronunciation: fair-SHLIM-bess-ern

Pronunciation: Jeuwre · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Meaning

to make something worse by trying to improve it — a fix that backfires

The story

German bolts schlimm, worse, onto bessern, to improve, and the collision describes the outcome exactly. Every household knows the sequence: a dripping tap and a confident spanner, then a plumber on Sunday rates. One word for the fix that backfires.

The four rounds

Which language is it from?: German
What does it literally say?: Worse-bettering
Where would you hear it?: Under the sink, on the third attempt
What does it mean?: To make something worse by trying to fix it

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2026-09-18 · ‹ Previous word · All words