worship
Americannoun
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reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred.
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formal or ceremonious rendering of such honor and homage.
They attended worship this morning.
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adoring reverence or regard.
excessive worship of business success.
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the object of adoring reverence or regard.
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(initial capital letter) a title of honor used in addressing or mentioning certain magistrates and others of high rank or station (usually preceded by Your, His, orHer ).
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to render religious reverence and homage, as to a deity.
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to attend services of divine worship.
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to feel an adoring reverence or regard.
verb
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(tr) to show profound religious devotion and respect to; adore or venerate (God or any person or thing considered divine)
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(tr) to be devoted to and full of admiration for
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(intr) to have or express feelings of profound adoration
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(intr) to attend services for worship
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obsolete (tr) to honour
noun
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religious adoration or devotion
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the formal expression of religious adoration; rites, prayers, etc
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admiring love or devotion
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archaic dignity or standing
noun
Usage
What does worship mean? Worship is the honor and reverence given to a god or sacred object, as in The holy men would not allow anyone to interrupt their worship of the gods. Worship can also refer to the formal act or ceremony in which a person gives such reverence, as in The family attended worship yesterday. Worship can be used more generally to refer to passionate adoration or devotion of anything, as in I am sometimes disturbed by the creepy worship of celebrities.As a verb, worship can be used in both the religious sense, as in worshipping nature, or the secular sense, as in worshiping the musician at every concert. In American English, worshiped and worshipping are spelled with only one P, while in British English they are spelled with two P’s (worshipped, worshipping).Self-worship is used to refer to someone who reveres or adores themselves, as in The dozens of flattering self-portraits were just one example of the king’s self-worship. Example: My sister worships her cats and is always buying fancy gifts for them.
Other Word Forms
- misworship verb
- preworship noun
- self-worship noun
- self-worshiper noun
- self-worshiping adjective
- self-worshipper noun
- self-worshipping adjective
- unworshiped adjective
- unworshiping adjective
- unworshipped adjective
- unworshipping adjective
- worshipable adjective
- worshiper noun
- worshipingly adverb
- worshipper noun
Etymology
Origin of worship
First recorded before 900; Middle English noun wors(c)hipe, worthssipe, Old English worthscipe, variant of weorthscipe; Middle English verb derivative of the noun; worth 1, -ship
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I still had a great deal of little-sister worship for this big brother, five years older than I, an ordained minister and the only ten Boom who had ever been to college.
From Literature
President Tinubu condemned the "evil-minded" terror groups - and MPs in the UK have called for the protection of freedom of worship in Nigeria.
From BBC
The finance bros who worship at the altar of Bloomberg have declared war on the tech evangelists who have put all their faith in AI.
For millennials and Gen Z readers who worship collectibles like Labubus, friendship bracelets and butterfly hair clips, it’s natural that art direction would follow suit — sometimes with an ironic twist.
From Los Angeles Times
“Everyone deserves to worship in peace, and we must unequivocally condemn any attack on a house of worship or the people within it.”
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
