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 ).
to render religious reverence and homage, as to a deity.
to attend services of divine worship.
to feel an adoring reverence or regard.
(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
religious adoration or devotion
the formal expression of religious adoration; rites, prayers, etc
admiring love or devotion
archaic dignity or standing
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.
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
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."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Religious institutions have grown far beyond traditional places of worship," he said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026
This kind of warrior worship is also incredibly common.
From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2026
They gathered in the evening daily for religious worship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
"A mosque is a place of worship, peace and community and to use it in this way is experienced as an act of intimidation and disrespect towards an entire faith community."
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
He eased through the same front doors he’d entered the night before, but instead of following the corridor that led to the worship hall, he took a narrower side stairway up to the dormitories.
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
Worship services are also held on Ash Wednesday in Anglican, Lutheran, Episcopal and some Protestant churches.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2024
Mhairi Marwick was due to teach at the Fèis Thiriodh and play with Celtic Worship at the festival.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2023
Worship became more personalized and private, centered on prayer and songs within the home.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
“Will it please Your Worship to hear the noble Hizdahr zo Loraq?”
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Where the MT1 puts small on a pedestal, the Slate Truck worships simple.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
“This is a church that worships Jesus. Loves one another. Seeks the good of their neighbors.”
From Slate ● Jan. 30, 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
"My grandfather's name is Khan. I'm trying to find him and was wondering if maybe you knew him, sir, because he worships at the same mosque, I think?"
From "Born Behind Bars" by Padma Venkatraman
"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
Despite the abundance of material, it remains difficult to determine exactly which deities were worshipped.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 5, 2026
Barcelona's possession-based "DNA" is largely the product of Johan Cruyff's time as player and coach, later recreated by those who worshipped - and played under - him, such as Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.
From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2026
I memorized this information in case the authorities asked me where I worshipped my religion.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
In crafting the final season, which finds Homelander demanding to be worshiped as God, the writers drew inspiration from the actions of current and former fascist leaders.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
But she was worshiped for being the Iron Lady.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
A leather-goods salesman from Brooklyn, N.Y., he worshiped the sun and loved nothing better than a “fresh burn.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 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
It’s also sparked a crisis of faith for many Catholics who have spent their lives worshiping at Sunday Mass and are now questioning whether it’s safe to connect with God in such a public space.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2025
And a growing number of middle-class African Americans are worshiping in more diverse congregations.
From Slate ● Aug. 30, 2024
There are the tone cults, of course, dressing in sackcloth and worshiping sonic vibrations—but like so many things in our world, they seek to imitate what once was.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
It was to protect worshippers that Israel had asked people of all faiths to "temporarily abstain" from worshipping at all the holy sites in Jerusalem's Old City, he added.
From Barron's ● Mar. 29, 2026
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’s incapable of worshipping a god because he’s only capable of worshipping himself.
From Salon ● Mar. 6, 2024
He is worshipping her through this act of cooking for her.
From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2024
When he gets close, he bows like he’s worshipping me.
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
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.
