worldly
adverb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L203969 on Wikidata ↗adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L342580 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈwɜː(ɹ)ldli/
adj
Etymology: 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”).
- 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.”
- Concerned with secular rather than sacred matters.
- Sophisticated, especially because of surfeit; versed in the ways of the world.
“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.”
adv
Etymology: From Middle English worldly, worldliche, wordly (adverb), from Old English woroldlīċe, weoroldlīċe; equivalent to world + -ly (adverbial suffix).
- In a worldly manner.