worldlingn.
/ˈwəːldlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈwər(ə)ldlɪŋ/ 1. A person who is devoted to the interests and pleasures of the world; a worldly or worldly-minded person.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > unspirituality > [noun] > person
man of the world1535
worldling1549
worlding1567
earthling1600
earthman1748
this-worldian1830
secularist1851
hylicist1880
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > lack of magnanimity or noble-mindedness > [noun] > worldliness > worldly person
world-manOE
worldling1549
worldly wiseman1561
cosmopolite1614
worldly wiseling1681
1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. Jude f. xxiiiv They bee worldelinges [L. animales], and geuyng them selues in to the seruice of worldly affectes [L. mundanis affectibus].
a1614 J. Melville Autobiogr. & Diary (1842) 271 The godlie, for his..doctrine, lovit him; the warldlings, for his parentage and place, reverenced him.
a1659 R. Brownrig 65 Serm. (1674) I. xxvii. 350 A Worldlings thoughts, like a Fools, are all for the present.
1700 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Ceyx & Alcyone in Fables 368 The covetous Worldling in his anxious Mind Thinks only on the Wealth he left behind.
1821 Ld. Byron Marino Faliero (2nd issue) ii. i. 40 The world will think with worldlings; but my heart Has still been in my duties.
1845 J. Lingard Hist. & Antiq. Anglo-Saxon Church (ed. 3) II. App. h. 405 The various pretexts under which worldlings delude themselves, and neglect the welfare of their souls.
1912 Lady Burghclere Life James, 1st Duke of Ormonde I. xv. 474 A gay worldling of no known occupation.
1991 L. Faderman Odd Girls & Twilight Lovers iii. 82 Narrow-mindedness would have betrayed such a lack of sophistication as to degrade the bohemian back to the position of mere worldling.
2004 Times Lit. Suppl. 3 Dec. 36/2 Betjeman was a worldling with the instincts of a little child. Not a bad recipe for a poet.
2.
a. = citizen of the world n. at citizen n. and adj. Phrases 1; a cosmopolite. Now rare.Apparently obsolete by the 17th cent., and occasionally revived in modern use.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social attitudes > patriotism > nationalism > [noun] > cosmopolitanism > person
citizen of the world1583
worldling1586
cosmopolite?c1622
cosmopolitan1642
citizen of nature1745
citizen1849
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 349 Socrates said, that he tooke not himselfe to be either an Athenian or a Grecian, but a worldling [Fr. ny de Grece, mais du monde].
c1600 Timon (1980) i. iv. 12 Gelas... What cuntreyman I pray you..? Ps. A Wordling.
1976 W. Stegner Spectator Bird i. iii. 34 They are curious why worldlings like us should be going to Denmark.
b. An inhabitant of the world. Cf. earthling n.2 1a.
ΘΠ
the world > people > person > [noun]
hadc900
lifesmaneOE
maneOE
world-maneOE
ghostOE
wyeOE
lifeOE
son of manOE
wightc1175
soulc1180
earthmanc1225
foodc1225
person?c1225
creaturec1300
bodyc1325
beera1382
poppetc1390
flippera1400
wat1399
corsec1400
mortal?a1425
deadly?c1450
hec1450
personagec1485
wretcha1500
human1509
mundane1509
member1525
worma1556
homo1561
piece of flesh1567
sconce1567
squirrel?1567
fellow creature1572
Adamite1581
bloat herringa1586
earthling1593
mother's child1594
stuff1598
a piece of flesh1600
wagtail1607
bosom1608
fragment1609
boots1623
tick1631
worthy1649
earthlies1651
snap1653
pippin1665
being1666
personal1678
personality1678
sooterkin1680
party1686
worldling1687
human being1694
water-wagtail1694
noddle1705
human subject1712
piece of work1713
somebody1724
terrestrial1726
anybody1733
individual1742
character1773
cuss1775
jig1781
thingy1787
bod1788
curse1790
his nabs1790
article1796
Earthite1814
critter1815
potato1815
personeityc1816
nibs1821
somebody1826
tellurian1828
case1832
tangata1840
prawn1845
nigger1848
nut1856
Snooks1860
mug1865
outfit1867
to deliver the goods1870
hairpin1879
baby1880
possum1894
hot tamale1895
babe1900
jobbie1902
virile1903
cup of tea1908
skin1914
pisser1918
number1919
job1927
apple1928
mush1936
face1944
jong1956
naked ape1965
oke1970
punter1975
1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated ii. viii. 133 God revealed not this art [of navigation] to the old worldlings.]
1687 A. Lovell tr. C. de Bergerac Comical Hist. 26 Which our Worldlings [Fr. ceux de mon pays] call a Moon also.
1816 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Canto III liii. 29 The heart must Leap kindly back to kindness, though disgust Hath wean'd it from all worldlings.
1905 G. Santayana Life of Reason III. xi. 203 The masses of matter which the worldlings have transformed with their machinery..will remain to bear witness of them.
1995 A. Kopkind 30 Years' War i. v. 169 Man the worldling truly became but ‘little lower than the angels’ and first set foot upon another planet.
Compounds
General attributive. Relating to or characteristic of a worldling; worldly. Now rare.
ΚΠ
a1614 J. Melville Autobiogr. & Diary (1842) 785 The hellishe Jesuitis and warldling formalistis.
1658 R. Brathwait Honest Ghost 313 So dyed this worldling Slave. ‘Was e're wealth worse bestowed?’
1720 R. Welton tr. T. Alvares de Andrade Sufferings Son of God II. xiv. 377 Those..conceal a Wicked and Worldling-heart, under the Garb..of Religion.
1861 T. Winthrop Cecil Dreeme xvii. 208 My worldling nature shrivels, the immortal Me expands under your artistic touch.
Derivatives
Π
1581 W. Goodyear tr. J. de Cartigny Voy. Wandering Knight i. xii. 49 Who so leades his life worldling like, and fixeth his felicitie in Voluptuousnesse, is doubtlesse a vessell of the Diuell.
a1639 H. Wotton Reliquiæ Wottonianæ (1651) 532 The fond Credulity Of silly Fish, which worldling-like, still look Upon the bait, but never on the hook.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1549