ungodly

English

Etymology

From Middle English ungodly, ungudely, ungoodly, ungudly, ungoodlich, equivalent to un- +‎ godly. Cognate with Old Norse óguðligr ("ungodly"; > Danish ugudelig, Icelandic óguðlegur).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʌnˈɡɒdli/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Adjective

ungodly (comparative more ungodly or ungodlier, superlative most ungodly or ungodliest)

1. Lacking reverence for God; impious.
2. Sinful, immoral, or wicked.

   People often turn to ungodly ideas as an emotional response to trauma.

   • 1604, Jeremy Corderoy, A Short Dialogve, wherein is Proved, that No Man can be Saved without Good VVorkes, 2nd edition, Oxford: Printed by Ioseph Barnes, and are to be sold in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Crowne, by Simon Waterson, →OCLC, page 40:

     [N]ow ſuch a liue vngodly, vvithout a care of doing the wil of the Lord (though they profeſſe him in their mouths, yea though they beleeue and acknowledge all the Articles of the Creed, yea haue knowledge of the Scripturs) yet if they liue vngodly, they deny God, and therefore ſhal be denied, […]

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 1:5-6:

     Therefore the vngodly shall not stand in the iudgement, nor sinners in the Congregation of the righteous.

     For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the vngodly shall perish.

3. (informal) Unreasonable; extreme.

   We had to start our journey at an ungodly hour.

Derived terms

• ungodliness

Translations

unreasonable

• Arabic: غَيْر مَعْقُول m (ḡayr maʕqūl)
• Bulgarian: безбожен (bg) (bezbožen)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• French: pas catholique (fr)
• Polish: bezbożny (pl)