Worldly is used to describe things relating to the ordinary activities of life, rather than to spiritual things.
[literary]
I think it is time you woke up and focused your thoughts on more worldly matters.
He has repeatedly criticized Western churches as too worldly and too entrenched inconsumerism.
Synonyms: earthly, lay, physical, fleshly More Synonyms of worldly
2. adjective [usually verb-link ADJECTIVE]
Someone who is worldly is experienced and knows about the practical or social aspects of life.
He was different from anyone I had known, very worldly, everything that Dermot wasnot.
He was worldly and sophisticated.
Synonyms: worldly-wise, knowing, experienced, politic More Synonyms of worldly
worldlinessuncountable noun
To Betty, Joe had an air of worldliness.
3. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
Worldly is used to describe things relating to success, wealth, and possessions.
[mainly literary]
Today the media drive athletes to the view that the important thing is to gain worldlysuccess.
4. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
You can refer to someone's possessions as their worldly goods or possessions.
[literary]
...a man who had given up all his worldly goods.
They are willing to sign away their entire worldly possessions.
More Synonyms of worldly
worldly in British English
(ˈwɜːldlɪ)
adjectiveWord forms: -lier or -liest
1.
not spiritual; mundane or temporal
2. Also: worldly-minded
absorbed in or concerned with material things or matters that are immediately relevant
3. Also: worldly-wise
versed in the ways of the world; sophisticated
4. archaic
existing on or relating to the earth
5. obsolete
secular; lay
adverb
6. archaic
in a worldly manner
Derived forms
worldliness (ˈworldliness)
noun
worldly in American English
(ˈwɜrldli)
adjectiveWord forms: ˈworldlier or ˈworldliest
1.
of or limited to this world; temporal or secular
2.
devoted to or concerned with the affairs, pleasures, etc. of this world
: also ˈworldˈly-minded
3.
worldly-wise; sophisticated
SIMILAR WORDS: ˈearthly
Derived forms
worldliness (ˈworldliness)
noun
Examples of 'worldly' in a sentence
worldly
While I would happily sell all my worldly goods to cover the bills and keep him alive, my husband would not.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Why collect all these worldly goods if you have to say goodbye to them?
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The wealth and worldly attitude of the higher clergy incensed the people.
Christianity Today (2000)
He has worldly wisdom and passes it down to his players through parables.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
And he was not indifferent to worldly things.
Adam Nicolson GOD'S SECRETARIES: The Making of the King James Bible (2003)
Before the war they had been committed to seeking conventional worldly success.
Simon Ball THE GUARDSMEN (2004)
Too many think the recipe for worldly success is the same as it is in school and education.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Why should he give up half his worldly goods then still pay through the nose when a marriage has withered and died?
The Sun (2006)
No official data exists about whether you are more likely to be burgled if all your worldly goods are permanently on show.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
He's five years older and a bit more worldly wise.
The Sun (2006)
There is worldly wisdom here, but true wisdom too.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
I’ve got all my worldly goods in it, but it isn’t heavy.
LM Montgomery Anne of Green Gables (1872)
I think our young people now are getting too worldly wise.
George Eliot Daniel Deronda (1876)
A compendium of wise and worldly sentences can provide something akin to a course of education.
The Times Literary Supplement (2011)
You get to an age where you don't care what people think and enjoy dishing out the worldly wisdom.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
For them, religion was more an affirmation of the joy of life than a rejection of worldly pleasures and temptations.
Divine, Robert A. (editor) & Breen, T. H & Frederickson, George M & Williams, R. Hal America Past and Present (1995)
It is the other things, the worldly things like doubt and desire heaped around the soul that make us sick.
Marsden, Philip The Crossing-Place (1993)
He left the group at the height of their initial success, apparently renouncing worldly wealth and disappearing into the darkness of psychiatric hospitals and menial jobs.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
It's hoarded lovingly, used as the springboard for fantasies of worldly power that are almost more comfortable than the real thing.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Quotations
Be wisely worldly, be not worldly wiseFrancis QuarlesEmblems
All related terms of 'worldly'
this-worldly
distinguished by or relating to material or earthly concerns; not spiritual or concerned with life in a future or imaginary world
worldly goods
everything you own
worldly-wise
If you describe someone as worldly-wise , you mean they are experienced and know about the practical or social aspects of life, and are not easily shocked or impressed .
worldly-minded
absorbed in the affairs of the world
worldly wisdom
experience of the world that makes you difficult to shock or deceive
otherworldly
Otherworldly people, things, and places seem strange or spiritual, and not much connected with ordinary things.
Old World
that part of the world that was known before the discovery of the Americas , comprising Europe, Asia , and Africa; the eastern hemisphere
1 (adjective)
Definition
not spiritual
It is time you woke up and focused your thoughts on more worldly matters.
Synonyms
earthly
They lived in an earthly paradise.
lay
physical
the physical problems caused by the illness
fleshly
secular
secular and religious education
mundane
spiritual immortals who had transcended the mundane world
terrestrial
terrestrial life forms
temporal
Clergy should not be preoccupied with temporal matters.
carnal
profane
Churches should not be used for profane or secular purposes.
sublunary
Opposites
heavenly
,
spiritual
,
divine
,
ethereal
,
immaterial
,
transcendental
,
unworldly
,
noncorporeal
2 (adjective)
He has repeatedly criticized Western churches as being too worldly.
Synonyms
materialistic
I feel society has become very materialistic.
grasping
She is a grasping and manipulative young woman.
selfish
greedy
He attacked greedy bosses for awarding themselves big pay rises.
avaricious
I sacrificed my career so that my avaricious brother could succeed.
covetous
His sports car was attracting covetous stares.
worldly-minded
Opposites
moral
,
unworldly
,
nonmaterialistic
3 (adjective)
Definition
wise in the ways of the world
He was worldly and sophisticated, quite unlike me.
Synonyms
worldly-wise
A more worldly-wise man would have seen through him at once.
knowing
experienced
Perhaps I'm a bit more experienced about life than you are.
politic
sophisticated
Recently her tastes have become more sophisticated.
cosmopolitan
The family are rich, and extremely sophisticated and cosmopolitan.
urbane
In conversation, he was suave and urbane.
blasé
well versed in the ways of the world
Opposites
innocent
,
naive
,
unsophisticated
,
unworldly
,
ingenuous
Quotation
Be wisely worldly, be not worldly wise [Francis Quarles – Emblems]
Additional synonyms
in the sense of avaricious
I sacrificed my career so that my avaricious brother could succeed.
Synonyms
grasping,
greedy,
acquisitive,
stingy,
mean,
miserable,
rapacious,
penny-pinching,
parsimonious,
miserly,
niggardly,
covetous,
penurious,
close-fisted,
tight-arsed (taboo, slang),
tight-assed (US, taboo, slang),
snoep (South Africa, informal),
tight as a duck's arse (taboo, slang)
in the sense of cosmopolitan
Definition
sophisticated and cultured
The family are rich, and extremely sophisticated and cosmopolitan.
Synonyms
sophisticated,
worldly,
cultured,
refined,
cultivated,
urbane,
well-travelled,
worldly-wise
in the sense of covetous
Definition
jealously longing to possess something
His sports car was attracting covetous stares.
Synonyms
envious,
jealous,
yearning,
greedy,
acquisitive,
rapacious,
avaricious,
grasping,
mercenary
Nearby words of
worldly
world
world-class
world-view
worldly
worldly-wise
worldwide
worm
Related terms of
worldly
other-worldly
worldly-wise
Synonyms of 'worldly'
worldly
Explore 'worldly' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of experienced
Perhaps I'm a bit more experienced about life than you are.
Synonyms
worldly-wise,
knowing,
worldly,
wise,
mature,
sophisticated
in the sense of fleshly
Definition
worldly as opposed to spiritual
Synonyms
worldly,
human,
material,
earthly,
physical,
secular,
mundane,
terrestrial,
corporal,
of this world,
corporeal
in the sense of grasping
Definition
greedy for money
She is a grasping and manipulative young woman.
Synonyms
greedy,
acquisitive,
rapacious,
mean,
selfish,
stingy,
penny-pinching (informal),
venal,
miserly,
avaricious,
niggardly,
covetous,
tightfisted,
close-fisted,
tight-arsed (taboo, slang),
usurious,
tight-assed (US, taboo, slang),
snoep (South Africa, informal),
tight as a duck's arse (taboo, slang)
in the sense of greedy
Definition
having an excessive desire for something, such as food or money
He attacked greedy bosses for awarding themselves big pay rises.
Synonyms
avaricious,
grasping,
selfish,
insatiable,
acquisitive,
rapacious,
materialistic,
desirous,
covetous
in the sense of mundane
Definition
relating to the world or worldly matters
spiritual immortals who had transcended the mundane world
Synonyms
earthly,
worldly,
human,
material,
fleshly,
secular,
mortal,
terrestrial,
temporal,
sublunary
in the sense of physical
Definition
of the body, as distinguished from the mind or spirit
the physical problems caused by the illness
Synonyms
corporal,
fleshly,
bodily,
carnal,
somatic,
corporeal
in the sense of profane
Definition
secular
Churches should not be used for profane or secular purposes.
Synonyms
secular,
lay,
temporal,
unholy,
worldly,
unconsecrated,
unhallowed,
unsanctified
in the sense of secular
Definition
not connected with religion or the church
secular and religious education
Synonyms
worldly,
state,
lay,
earthly,
civil,
temporal,
profane,
laic,
nonspiritual,
laical
in the sense of sophisticated
Definition
intelligent, knowledgeable, or able to appreciate culture and the arts
Recently her tastes have become more sophisticated.
Synonyms
cultured,
refined,
cultivated,
worldly,
cosmopolitan,
urbane,
jet-set,
world-weary,
citified,
worldly-wise
in the sense of temporal
Definition
of secular as opposed to spiritual or religious affairs
Clergy should not be preoccupied with temporal matters.