worship
noun
reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred.
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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.
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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)
-
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.
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to attend services of divine worship.
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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
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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
-
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
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
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misworshipverb
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self-worshipingadjective
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self-worshippingadjective
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unworshipedadjective
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unworshipingadjective
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unworshippedadjective
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unworshippingadjective
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worshipableadjective
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worshipinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
worshipsimple
-
worshipssimple
-
have worshipedperfect
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have worshippedperfect
-
has worshipedperfect
-
has worshippedperfect
-
am worshipingprogressive
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am worshippingprogressive
-
are worshipingprogressive
-
are worshippingprogressive
-
is worshipingprogressive
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is worshippingprogressive
-
have been worshipingperfect progressive
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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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Frindle
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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:
When I was growing up in Queens in the 1970s, about 2,000 Jews would worship on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur at my synagogue, the Hollis Hills Jewish Center.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
However, early reports indicate more than 150 houses had been severely damaged, as well as dozens of educational institutions, a number of healthcare facilities, places of worship, offices, and several other public facilities.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Yasukuni this week also appealed to visitors to refrain from wearing military-style uniforms so that the "general public can worship in peace and quiet at our shrine".
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
While existing laws cover harassment and obstruction, they don’t reach the organized disruption that actually makes Americans feel afraid to enter their houses of worship.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
They don’t believe that we worship the same God as Christians and Jews do; we simply refer to that same God as Allah.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
The Right to Worship Act would establish a 100-foot zone around a house of worship during services and prohibit conduct that impedes worshipers from attending or disrupts the service inside.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Worship took different forms for those in the crowds.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
Worship services are also held on Ash Wednesday in Anglican, Lutheran, Episcopal and some Protestant churches.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2024
On Saturday morning, Cramer was joined by two other pastors for the third annual Pride Worship Service.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 14, 2023
“Your Worship must not allow diem in the city.”
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Within a legal profession that venerates judges and worships the Supreme Court, this is borderline heresy.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026
He is notorious for his threats against a Bollywood actor who shot two blackbucks, a type of antelope that the Bishnoi sect worships.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
What does it mean to lack ambition in a country that worships wealth?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
Filipino woman worships green statue for 4 years, finds out it is animated character Shrek.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 12, 2026
I was like a boy who worships a local soccer hero and is not interested in a national soccer star with whom he has no connection.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
The image called to mind the golden calf of Abrahamic religious texts, worshipped by the Israelites to Moses’—and God’s—dismay.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
His Napoli years - the Serie A title in 2024-25 and the adoration that came with it - have turned him into a player who is worshipped in Naples and identified throughout the world.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 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
Despite the abundance of material, it remains difficult to determine exactly which deities were worshipped.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 5, 2026
I memorized this information in case the authorities asked me where I worshipped my religion.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
But she was worshiped for being the Iron Lady.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
The same way that McIlroy worshiped Woods before playing alongside him, a new generation of players reached the highest level of the game by wanting to be McIlroy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
Shortly after their arrival, they attended a service at a large church in Naperville, marking the first time they had worshiped openly as Christians.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2026
“I absolutely worshiped The Beatles,” he told Rolling Stone in 2002.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2025
He scorned Aphrodite, he worshiped only Artemis, the huntress chaste and fair.
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
But the president of the United States was not worshiping in a church.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
“I’m a regular person, like you,” Hal says, gazing directly through the fourth wall at the tiny people he assumes are worshipping him from afar.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 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
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
They added it remained open for visiting and worshipping.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2025
My eyes drank in each word, worshipping their shape until my lips started forming them and I was reading aloud for everyone and no one to hear.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
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.
