worship
noun
reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred.
worship
American
[wur-ship]
/ ˈwɜr ʃɪp /
noun
-
reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred.
-
formal or ceremonious rendering of such honor and homage.
They attended worship this morning.
-
adoring reverence or regard.
excessive worship of business success.
-
the object of adoring reverence or regard.
-
(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)
-
worships,
present (3rd person singular)
-
worshipped,
past, past participle, past (especially British)
-
worshiped,
past participle
-
worshiping,
present participle
-
worshipping
present participle (especially British)
verb (used without object)
-
worships,
present (3rd person singular)
-
worshipped,
past, past participle, past (especially British)
-
worshiped,
past participle
-
worshiping,
present participle
-
worshipping
present participle (especially British)
-
to render religious reverence and homage, as to a deity.
-
to attend services of divine worship.
-
to feel an adoring reverence or regard.
worship
1
British
/ ˈwɜːʃɪp /
verb
-
(tr) to show profound religious devotion and respect to; adore or venerate (God or any person or thing considered divine)
-
(tr) to be devoted to and full of admiration for
-
(intr) to have or express feelings of profound adoration
-
(intr) to attend services for worship
-
obsolete (tr) to honour
noun
-
religious adoration or devotion
-
the formal expression of religious adoration; rites, prayers, etc
-
admiring love or devotion
-
archaic dignity or standing
Worship
2
British
/ ˈwɜːʃɪp /
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
Derived Forms
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preworshipnoun
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self-worshipnoun
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self-worshipernoun
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self-worshippernoun
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worshipernoun
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worshippernoun
-
misworshipverb
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self-worshipingadjective
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self-worshippingadjective
-
unworshipedadjective
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unworshipingadjective
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unworshippedadjective
-
unworshippingadjective
-
worshipableadjective
-
worshipinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
worshipsimple
-
worshipssimple
-
have worshipedperfect
-
have worshippedperfect
-
has worshipedperfect
-
has worshippedperfect
-
am worshipingprogressive
-
am worshippingprogressive
-
are worshipingprogressive
-
are worshippingprogressive
-
is worshipingprogressive
-
is worshippingprogressive
-
have been worshipingperfect progressive
-
have been worshippingperfect progressive
-
has been worshipingperfect progressive
-
has been worshippingperfect progressive
Past
-
worshippedsimple
-
had worshipedperfect
-
had worshippedperfect
-
was worshipingprogressive
-
was worshippingprogressive
-
were worshipingprogressive
-
were worshippingprogressive
-
had been worshipingperfect progressive
-
had been worshippingperfect progressive
Future
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; see origin at worth 1, -ship
Explanation
To worship is to show a lot of love and adoration for something. Religious believers worship gods, and people can worship other people and things too. Worship is an extreme form of love — it's a type of unquestioning devotion. If you worship God, then you love God so much that you don't question him at all. Going to church is a form of worship — so is prayer. People also use the word worship in other cases. If you love a musician or sports star, you might say, "I worship her!" Or someone might say to you, "Man, you need to wake up and stop worshiping him."
Vocabulary lists containing worship
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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:
New South Wales police say the officers will also patrol major events like sports matches and places of worship "to prevent, deter and rapidly respond to serious threats, including active armed offender incidents".
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
What connects this place of worship to a band known for its macabre aesthetic, however, is its music video for the song “Helena” from the album “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
Seeing it up close and personal is like a viewing a religious relic, at least for those of us who worship in the Church of Cinema.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
The saint is revered by Brazil's Catholics but is not recognized as an object of worship by its growing evangelical population.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
Ekon said nothing else as they neared the front of the worship hall.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
Mr. Keesee is founder of Frontline Missions International and co-author of “From the Rising of the Sun: A Journey of Worship Around the World.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
Batiste was a surprise winner at last year's ceremony and features in the major categories once again, with his album World Music Radio and song Worship up for the top prizes.
From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2023
People pray during the Praise and Worship service.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2023
In her most difficult moments, Dorsainvil said she turned to “See a Victory” by the North Carolina-based Elevation Worship music collective.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 13, 2023
“As Your Worship wishes,” Yutar said in a strangled voice.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Within a legal profession that venerates judges and worships the Supreme Court, this is borderline heresy.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026
Hundreds of people showed up for a midweek vigil at St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church, where some of the family worships, a few days after Guthrie disappeared.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026
Filipino woman worships green statue for 4 years, finds out it is animated character Shrek.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 12, 2026
She still drives her son insane with the way she worships the professor, but she’s not as infuriatingly unreasonable as Chekhov permits her to be.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2025
He worships the vuvv playboys he works for.
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
His collections were worshipped for their emphasis on individuality.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
Of all United's squad, Fernandes is the one worshipped by fans.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
"If someone chants the name of Mother Bonbibi, she will save his life from tigers, snakes, and crocodiles," said villager Ashutosh Mandal, 63, referring to a deity whose idol is worshipped at temples.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
They worshipped in a two-bedroom apartment while the group raised money to build a more permanent mosque—a spiritual home that would deepen their roots in their hometown.
From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2026
They worshipped figures in Staff God poses, lived in networks of vertical exchange, and had public architecture with designs based on templates from the coast.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
I love the game too much and, if I am being candid, my team has usually been better than the one everyone around me worshiped, which does wonders for a boy’s sense of belonging.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
Younger players may have worshiped Williams, but many of them were hitting back just as hard.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
In it, a government scientist discovers that a scaly creature worshiped by island villagers as a sea god has grown to a monstrosity that dwarfs tall buildings.
From Salon ● Mar. 20, 2026
Is it the genre’s front-row seat on the turbulent, provocative, culture-shifting lives of artists we’ve worshiped from afar?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2025
They could best understand her, too, who was worshiped, not like other gods by the bloody sacrifices men liked, but in every humble act that made the farm fruitful.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Architecture is the most optimistic of art forms, because to create spaces for living and working, for worshiping and governing, is by its nature a positive act.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
Society is depicted as "worshiping only power and money, despising art, sensitivity, tenderness, where people ...don't talk anymore."
From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026
But Rigney himself is focused on much more than worshiping Jesus and loving one another.
From Slate ● Jan. 30, 2026
“He is now rejoicing and worshiping the Lord as he loved to do,” Lopez wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2024
It reminded her of worshiping back home, offering a small continuity in her life.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
"If you tend to it too much, people think you are worshipping it," Arkoful says.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
Kingsley Femi Fanwo, Kogi State's information commissioner, blamed Sunday's church raid on bandits, and urged isolated places of worship to "reconsider worshipping in crime prone areas for now until the situation gets better".
From Barron's ● Nov. 30, 2025
Underground churches such as Zion were especially affected by the 2018 rules, which required government approval for worshipping in public.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2025
He believes in the power of film and the strength we get from the communal aspect of worshipping at the movie house.
From Salon ● May 24, 2025
I’m a little conflicted, since I’m against the idea of everybody worshipping the so-called cool crowd.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
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