worldly

[wurld-lee]

adjective

worldlier, worldliest 

1. of or relating to this world as contrasted with heaven, spiritual life, etc.; earthly; mundane.

   Synonyms: temporal
   Antonyms: spiritual

2. experienced; knowing; sophisticated.

   the benefits of his worldly wisdom.

   Synonyms: cosmopolitan, urbane

3. devoted to, directed toward, or connected with the affairs, interests, or pleasures of this world.

4. of or relating to the people or laity; secular; neither ecclesiastical nor religious.

5. Obsolete.,  of, relating to, or existing on earth.

adverb

1. in a worldly manner (archaic except in combination).

   worldly-wise; worldly-minded.

worldly

/ ˈwɜːldlɪ /

adjective

1. not spiritual; mundane or temporal

2. Also: worldly-minded. absorbed in or concerned with material things or matters that are immediately relevant

3. Also: worldly-wise. versed in the ways of the world; sophisticated

4. archaic,  existing on or relating to the earth

5. obsolete,  secular; lay

adverb

1. archaic,  in a worldly manner

Other Word Forms

• worldliness noun
• preworldliness noun
• preworldly adjective
• superworldliness noun
• superworldly adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of worldly¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English wor(u)ldlīc. See world, -ly

Synonym Study

See earthly.

Example Sentences

The 21-year-old, born in a Paris suburb, may be basketball’s most worldly superstar, spending his free time playing chess, sketching and poring through 1,000-page novels.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Liniker’s path to this moment has been marked by cycles of reinvention that hold truth to her style and worldly vision as an artist and person.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The hotel’s lobby bar called The Gripps was made for a tough, hard-drinking, worldly crowd of voyagers, tucked into the far corner of an empire.

Read more on Salon

But alongside its worldly successes, the show also provoked conversations about socioeconomic inequality in South Korean society, such as the prevalence of debt, which looms in the backstories of several characters.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It gives her music a worldly quality, reflected in multilingual tracks like “Eurotrash,” which Rivera sings in English, Spanish and French.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• earthly 
• earthy 
• mundane 
• practical 
• secular 
• temporal