edifying

[ed-uh-fahy-ing]

adjective

1. instructive or beneficial, especially morally or spiritually; uplifting.

   We had our meals together, during which we listened to reading from an edifying children's book.

Other Word Forms

• edifyingly adverb
• unedifying adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of edifying¹

edify + -ing ²

Example Sentences

The common thread is mass production of stories journalists and urban liberals would find emotionally satisfying rather than factually edifying.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

There’s nothing here that the viewer can’t glean from the documentary, and in fact, the doc is a far more edifying and affecting work than Safdie’s stylish regurgitation.

Read more on Salon

Brooks insists on seeing all this as an edifying story of a nation’s rise, albeit with a few bumps in the road.

Read more on Salon

But it’s an edifying experience, hurtling forward with only the mighty light of intrepid wonder to guide us.

Read more on Salon

It’s also a central pillar of the pair’s edifying new sitcom.

Read more on Los Angeles Times