Definition of "worst-case" []

• Most unfavorable; being or involving the worst possibility: "has exceeded even the worst-case estimate of his harshest critics” ( Alan Cranston). (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "So-called worst-case housing needs grew by more than 20 percent from 2007 to 2009 and by 42 percent since 2001, according to a report released this month by the Department of Housing and Urban Development."
• "They say they are preparing for a so-called worst-case scenario to assist hundreds of thousands of people who might flee across borders into neighboring countries."
• "This was what you would call a worst-case scenario for any woman who had just delivered a baby."