worldly
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /ˈwɜː(ɹ)ldli/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)ldli
Etymology 1
[edit]From Middle English worldly, worldlich, wordly (adjective), from Old English woruldlīċ, worldlīċ, weoroldlīċ (“worldly; earthly; temporal; mundane; secular”), from Proto-Germanic *weraldilīkaz, equivalent to world + -ly. Cognate with Dutch wereldlijk (“worldly; secular”), German Low German weltlik (“worldly”), German weltlich (“worldly”), Danish verdslig (“worldly”), Swedish världslig (“worldly”), Icelandic veraldlegur (“worldly; secular”).
Adjective
[edit]worldly (comparative worldlier or more worldly, superlative worldliest or most worldly)
- Concerned with human or earthly matters, physical as opposed to spiritual.
- 1868, Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, Part Two, Chapter Twenty-four: Gossip,
- These attributes, in spite of poverty and the strict integrity which shut him out from the more worldly successes, attracted to him many admirable persons, as naturally as sweet herbs draw bees, and as naturally he gave them the honey into which fifty years of hard experience had distilled no bitter drop.
- c. 1883-1896, Vyasa, Kisari Mohan Ganguli (translator), The Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva, Section LXXXV,
- Thirst of enjoyment, therefore, should be given up. Indeed, true happiness belongeth to them that have cast off their thirst for worldly objects--a thirst which is difficult to be thrown off by the wicked and the sinful, which faileth not with the failing life, and which is truly the fatal disease of man.
- 1889, Leo Tolstoy, chapter VIII, in Huntington Smith, transl., My Religion:
- The conviction that my personal, worldly life was something real and good constituted the misunderstanding, the obstacle, that prevented me from comprehending Jesus doctrine.
- 1910, G. K. Chesterton, What's Wrong with the World, Chapter 1, part 3:
- We have actually contrived to invent a new kind of hypocrite. The old hypocrite, Tartuffe or Pecksniff, was a man whose aims were really worldly and practical, while he pretended that they were religious. The new hypocrite is one whose aims are really religious, while he pretends that they are worldly and practical.
- Synonyms: material, mundane, sublunar
- Antonyms: otherworldly, spiritual
- 1868, Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, Part Two, Chapter Twenty-four: Gossip,
- Concerned with secular rather than sacred matters.
- Sophisticated, especially because of surfeit; versed in the ways of the world.
- 2016 January 24, Les Chappell, “TV: Review: The Simpsons (Classic), “Natural Born Kissers” (season nine, episode 25, originally aired 05/17/1998)”, in The Onion AV Club[1]:
- Homer and Marge have to try to explain things to children who are too worldly to fall for most excuses, the explanation trails off, and what could be a pleasant family outing to solve it all turns out to be yet another excuse for self-involvement when one public humiliation doesn’t outweigh the joys of getting busy in a windmill.
- Synonyms: sophisticated, street-smart
- Antonym: naive
Related terms
[edit]Translations
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Etymology 2
[edit]From Middle English worldly, worldliche, wordly (adverb), from Old English woroldlīċe, weoroldlīċe; equivalent to world + -ly (adverbial suffix).
Adverb
[edit]worldly (comparative more worldly, superlative most worldly)
- In a worldly manner.
- Synonyms: secularly, unspiritually, worldlily
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]See also
[edit]Middle English
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]From Old English woruldlīċ, worldlīċ, weoroldlīċ, from Proto-West Germanic *weraldilīk, from Proto-Germanic *weraldilīkaz; equivalent to world + -ly (adjectival suffix).
Alternative forms
[edit]- wardly, warldely, warldly, werdely, werdly, werldly, wordeliche, wordlelich, wordli, wordlich, wordly, worldli, worldlich, worldliche, worlly, worly, wurdly, wurldly
- (Early Middle English) weordlich, weoruldlic, werldlic, worlich, worltlich
Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]worldly
- Of the material world:
- Mundane, secular; unrelated to religion:
- Versed in the ways of the world.
- Impious, irreverent.
Descendants
[edit]References
[edit]- “worldlī, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2
[edit]From Old English woroldlīċe, weoroldlīċe; equivalent to world + -ly (adverbial suffix).
Alternative forms
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Adverb
[edit]worldly
Descendants
[edit]- English: worldly
References
[edit]- “worldlī, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)ldli
- Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)ldli/2 syllables
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms suffixed with -ly (adjectival)
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with quotations
- English terms suffixed with -ly (adverbial)
- English adverbs
- en:Personality
- Middle English terms inherited from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English terms suffixed with -ly (adjectival)
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English adjectives
- Middle English terms suffixed with -ly (adverbial)
- enm:Earth
- enm:Religion