unworthy
Americanadjective
-
not worthy; lacking worth or excellence.
- Antonyms:
- commendable, admirable, deserving
-
beneath the dignity (usually followed byof ).
behavior unworthy of a king.
-
of a kind not worthy (often followed byof ).
- Synonyms:
- ignoble, unsuitable, unfit, unseemly
-
not of adequate merit or character.
- Synonyms:
- ignoble, unsuitable, unfit, unseemly
-
not commendable or creditable.
-
not deserving.
noun
-
unworthies
plural
adjective
-
(often foll by of) not deserving or worthy
-
(often foll by of) beneath the level considered befitting (to)
that remark is unworthy of you
-
lacking merit or value
-
(of treatment) not warranted or deserved
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of unworthy
Middle English word dating back to 1200–50; see origin at un- 1, worthy
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.
See Examples For:
When you feel unworthy, you stop doing the things that lift you up.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
“This systemic sorting of worthy and unworthy children is justified by saying that our ‘brightest’ students deserve and demand more rigor,” she writes in her most recent article.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
"Everything, from the minute you cross their threshold, is that you're unworthy to be a mother and we're taking your baby from you," Marion said.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
“Who are you to call me unworthy or despicable when you don’t even know me!!” she wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
Sometimes parents used them in irritation at a child’s misbehavior, indicating that mischief made one unworthy of a name.
From "The Giver" by Lois Lowry
Hollow-eyed, gaunt, gorgeously ravaged – Mourinho was already in the habit of using his increasingly odd post-match press conferences to rail against the moles, traitors, cowards and unworthies inside his own dressing room.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 17, 2015
These unworthies were slammed for their books, which he declared “rubbish” and “awful.”
From New York Times ● Sep. 26, 2012
Insensibly, she branched into reminiscence, telling caustic histories of these Leicestershire unworthies, who were all unknown to Susan; and the girl hardly listened, sitting with her cheek on her hand and a dreaming brow.
From Barnaby A Novel by R. Ramsay
But those unworthies kept well out of sight, only showing themselves at roll call and when it was time to eat, and then disappearing as if by magic.
From The Rover Boys Under Canvas or The Mystery of the Wrecked Submarine by Edward Stratemeyer
It is the measly little unworthies that nag one to desperation.
From The Lady and Sada San A Sequel to the Lady of the Decoration by Frances Little
Ah! that passage of childhood, what a void it makes in the growing heart; and how quietly its place is filled by unworthier influences.
From The Doctor's Daughter by [pseud.] Vera
In the qualities of a ruler he was conspicuously deficient; always dependent on others, he ever inclined to the unworthier master.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 10 "Echinoderma" to "Edward" by Various
The title-page gives a London publisher as well as an Anglo-Athenian one, and Mrs. Johnstone benevolently adapted her labours to her countrywomen and the unworthier Southrons alike.
From Old Cookery Books and Ancient Cuisine by William Carew Hazlitt
The difference is, that in the truly great the unworthier side of nature is viewed as unworthy—is fought against and banished like the plague.
From The Life, Letters and Work of Frederic Leighton Volume I by Mrs. Russell Barrington
The obstinate calumny of his scepticism served as a pretext to the King's conscience for the unworthier instinct of personal dislike.
From Sir Walter Ralegh A Biography by W. (William) Stebbing
Dare to profane with his unworthiest hand that.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
It is not well, O thou Lofty and Divine One, that thou shouldst stoop so low as to console him who is the unworthiest of all thy servants.
From A Romance of Two Worlds by Marie Corelli
He becomes cynical as he sees how easily the spot light is made to flash upon the unworthiest figures by the flimsiest mechanism.
From A Hoosier Chronicle by F. C. (Frederick Coffay) Yohn
Degree being vizarded, Th' unworthiest shows as fairly in the mask.
From Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare
In her eyes there was that sweet light of expectation and happiness which illuminated all Gabriel's thoughts of her, and persuaded him that he was the happiest and unworthiest of men.
From Trumps by George William Curtis
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
