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.
This kind of warrior worship is also incredibly common.
From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2026
"Although this happened near a mosque, at this stage we do not believe the shooting to be connected to this place of worship."
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
They only knew it offered what the Old World increasingly didn’t: freedom to think, to work and collaborate, to worship and to build.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Since Modi came to power numerous Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh places of worship have undergone extensive renovation, as have holy sites such as Varanasi, Sarnath and Bodh Gaya.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
A time will come when they have grown so wicked that they will worship power, might will be right to them, and reverence for the good will cease to be.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Worship took different forms for those in the crowds.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
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
In her most difficult moments, Dorsainvil said she turned to “See a Victory” by the North Carolina-based Elevation Worship music collective.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 13, 2023
Worship became more personalized and private, centered on prayer and songs within the home.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
“Your Worship, with respect, if I had something more to say I would have said it.”
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
What does it mean to lack ambition in a country that worships wealth?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 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
Madame Pernelle, too, worships at the shrine of Tartuffe, but has nary a good word, and many a bad one, for anyone else.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 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
Stadio Olimpico welcomed Totti as a 16-year-old debutant in 1993 and worshipped him until a tearful goodbye aged 40.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2026
Despite the abundance of material, it remains difficult to determine exactly which deities were worshipped.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 5, 2026
It felt strange to speak of beings she’d worshipped all her life this way.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
Younger players may have worshiped Williams, but many of them were hitting back just as hard.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Legend has it that the lion-headed figure protected the country from invasions and was worshiped as a god of war in the ancient Nubian kingdoms of Kush.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
In it, a government scientist discovers that a scaly creature worshiped by island villagers as a sea god has grown to a monstrosity that dwarfs tall buildings.
From Salon ● Mar. 20, 2026
Isis symbolizes healing and maternal love and was worshiped from England to Afghanistan during the time of the Roman Empire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2025
Most days I worshiped Baba with an intensity approaching the religious.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
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
“They were standing, worshiping God. Some of them were clapping,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 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
And a growing number of middle-class African Americans are worshiping in more diverse congregations.
From Slate ● Aug. 30, 2024
It reminded her of worshiping back home, offering a small continuity in her life.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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
They added it remained open for visiting and worshipping.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2025
The themes of performances at Mr Gopalakrishnan's house include honouring a deified ancestor, venerating a warrior-hunter deity, and worshipping tiger spirits symbolising strength and protection.
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2024
He is worshipping her through this act of cooking for her.
From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2024
I had a vague idea that being Christian had something to do with worshipping Yesu, a God who wore a crown of thorns.
From "The Bridge Home" by Padma Venkatraman
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.
