unworldly

[ uhn-wurld-lee ]

/ ʌnˈwɜrld li /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR unworldly ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

not worldly; not seeking material advantage; spiritually minded.

naive; unsophisticated; provincial.

not terrestrial; unearthly.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of unworldly

First recorded in 1700–10; un-¹ + worldly

Related formsun·world·li·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for unworldly

Only the unworldly could still think this was, at its worst, only an unseemly platonic relationship rather than a serious bonding.
Queen Victoria’s Secret Scottish Sex Castle|Clive Irving|August 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When she arrived at the academy, Fernandez was 17 and, Sousa told me, a shy, unworldly country girl.
Hugo and the Hottie|Bryan Curtis|October 8, 2009|DAILY BEAST
But just because her husband was so unworldly, so unpractical, Charlotte's own more everyday nature began to reassert itself.
How It All Came Round|L. T. Meade
Neither with the worldly nor the unworldly woman could the ladies do anything.
Evan Harrington, Complete|George Meredith

There were also, for such a romantic, unworldly boy as Jean-Pierre, all the variations on the Camille theme.
Rough-Hewn|Dorothy Canfield
Many people would have said that he was laughing on the wrong side of his mouth: the worldly never can understand the unworldly.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. 17, No. 97, January, 1876|Various
The other Sunday night, Mr. Harris was very spiritual, at any rate, very impractical and unworldly.
About London|J. Ewing Ritchie

British Dictionary definitions for unworldly

unworldly

/ (ʌnˈwɜːldlɪ) /

adjective

not concerned with material values or pursuits

lacking sophistication; naive

not of this earth or world

Derived Formsunworldliness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for unworldly

unworldly

adj.

1707, from un- (1) "not" + worldly.