worldliness

W4O1R1L1D2L1I1N1E1S1S1

noun

The quality of being worldly; familiarity with the ways of the world.

UncommonScrabble 15

Meanings

nounworldliness (countable and uncountable, plural worldlinesses)

plural worldlinesses

  1. countableuncountableThe quality of being worldly; familiarity with the ways of the world.

    There was a coarseness in the one which revolted the almost fastidious delicacy of the other; and Lady Marchmont, full of poetry, touched with romance and sentiment, had nothing in common with the harsh and hard worldliness of Lady Mary; […]

    1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “An Act of Parliament”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 186
    1 more example

    Another thing, which is leaving the divine things with their divinity, the worldly things with their worldliness and the subhuman things with their demoniacality, is, that before a person attains their own redemption and a development of the state about which we were talking with S. Kulovaný, they have to be educated not to themselves destroy the state, attained by a successful initiation, by their worldliness which is rooted in their mind.

    2010, Květoslav Minařík, translated by Danica Klempová, “Initiation and self-initiation”, in Yoga and Buddhism in the Life of a Contemporary Person: Collection of Short Texts (The Direct Path; 1), Prague: Canopus, →ISBN, pages 239–240

Synonyms & antonyms

nounthe quality or character of being intellectually sophisticated and worldly through cultivation or experience or disillusionment

Broader

nounconcern with worldly affairs to the neglect of spiritual needs

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishworldlynesse
  2. Englishworldliness

From Middle English worldlynesse, equivalent to worldly + -ness. Compare West Frisian wrâldlikens (“worldliness”), German Weltlichkeit (“worldliness”), Swedish världslighet (“worldliness”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Hindi सांसारिकता, लौकिकता
  • सांसारिकता (sānsāriktā)the quality of being worldly
  • लौकिकता (laukiktā)the quality of being worldly
Indonesian keduniawian
  • keduniawianthe quality of being worldly
Malay keduniaan
  • keduniaanthe quality of being worldly
Spanish mundo, mundología
  • mundothe quality of being worldly
  • mundologíathe quality of being worldly
Cite this entry
APA

worldliness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/worldliness

MLA

“worldliness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/worldliness. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “worldliness,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/worldliness.

Source: worldliness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.