| 最差 | zuì chā | least / worst / the least / the worst |  |
| 大不了 | dà bù liǎo | at worst / if worst comes to worst / (usu. in the negative) serious / alarming |  |
| 吃亏 | chī kuī | to suffer losses / to come to grief / to lose out / to get the worst of it / to be at a disadvantage / unfortunately | |
| 上刑 | shàng xíng | severe punishment / worst punishment / to torture | |
| 比上不足比下有余 | bǐ shàng bù zú bǐ xià yǒu yú | to fall short of the best but be better than the worst / can pass muster | |
| 哀莫大于心死 | āi mò dà yú xīn sǐ | nothing sadder than a withered heart (idiom attributed to Confucius by Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子[Zhuang1 zi3]) / no greater sorrow than a heart that never rejoices / the worst sorrow is not as bad as an uncaring heart / nothing is more wretched than apathy | |
| 束手就毙 | shù shǒu jiù bì | hands tied and expecting the worst | |
| 束手待死 | shù shǒu dài sǐ | hands tied and expecting the worst | |
| 不孝有三，无后为大 | bù xiào yǒu sān , wú hòu wéi dà | there are three ways to be unfilial / having no sons is the worst (from Mencius 孟子[Meng4zi3]) | |
| 最坏情况假设 | | worst case scenario | |
| 最恶劣形式的童工劳动 | | the worst forms of child labour | |
| 好戏还在后头 | hǎo xì hái zài hòu tou | the best part of the show is yet to come / (with ironic tone) the worst is yet to come / you ain't seen nothin' yet | |
| 比上不足，比下有余 | bǐ shàng - bù zú , bǐ xià - yǒu yú | neither the best nor the worst / not too bad / better than some | |
