worship
noun
reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred.
worship
American
[wur-ship]
/ ˈwɜr ʃɪp /
noun
-
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.
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the object of adoring reverence or regard.
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(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 ).
verb (used with object)
-
worships,
present (3rd person singular)
-
worshipped,
past, past participle, past (especially British)
-
worshiped,
past participle
-
worshiping,
present participle
-
worshipping
present participle (especially British)
verb (used without object)
-
worships,
present (3rd person singular)
-
worshipped,
past, past participle, past (especially British)
-
worshiped,
past participle
-
worshiping,
present participle
-
worshipping
present participle (especially British)
-
to render religious reverence and homage, as to a deity.
-
to attend services of divine worship.
-
to feel an adoring reverence or regard.
worship
1
British
/ ˈwɜːʃɪp /
verb
-
(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
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(intr) to have or express feelings of profound adoration
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(intr) to attend services for worship
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obsolete (tr) to honour
noun
-
religious adoration or devotion
-
the formal expression of religious adoration; rites, prayers, etc
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admiring love or devotion
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archaic dignity or standing
Worship
2
British
/ ˈwɜːʃɪp /
noun
Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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preworshipnoun
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self-worshipnoun
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self-worshipernoun
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self-worshippernoun
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worshipernoun
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worshippernoun
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misworshipverb
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self-worshipingadjective
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self-worshippingadjective
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unworshipedadjective
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unworshipingadjective
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unworshippedadjective
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unworshippingadjective
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worshipableadjective
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worshipinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
worshipsimple
-
worshipssimple
-
have worshipedperfect
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have worshippedperfect
-
has worshipedperfect
-
has worshippedperfect
-
am worshipingprogressive
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am worshippingprogressive
-
are worshipingprogressive
-
are worshippingprogressive
-
is worshipingprogressive
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is worshippingprogressive
-
have been worshipingperfect progressive
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have been worshippingperfect progressive
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has been worshipingperfect progressive
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has been worshippingperfect progressive
Past
-
worshippedsimple
-
had worshipedperfect
-
had worshippedperfect
-
was worshipingprogressive
-
was worshippingprogressive
-
were worshipingprogressive
-
were worshippingprogressive
-
had been worshipingperfect progressive
-
had been worshippingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of worship
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
Explanation
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."
Vocabulary lists containing worship
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Frindle
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This image of hero worship anchors Walter Thompson-Hernandez’s staggeringly lovely “If I Go Will They Miss Me,” an indie take on the perennial saga of lost men struggling to return home.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Let those who worship evil’s might beware my power… Green Lantern’s light!
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
So, with fans flocking to worship at the Temple of Speed, just how do Italians feel about Antonelli battling Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc for race wins and the drivers' championship?
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
Economic opportunity, the ability to speak and worship freely and a strong work ethic have led many Americans to see the U.S. as a uniquely privileged nation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
These Guardians were immortal and worthy of worship, but they were often considered separate from the main league of gods and goddesses.
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
The Right to Worship Act would establish a 100-foot zone around a house of worship during services and prohibit conduct that impedes worshipers from attending or disrupts the service inside.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Worship took different forms for those in the crowds.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
People pray during the Praise and Worship service.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2023
On Saturday morning, Cramer was joined by two other pastors for the third annual Pride Worship Service.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 14, 2023
Your Worship, I hate racial discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
“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
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
He worships the vuvv playboys he works for.
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
His collections were worshipped for their emphasis on individuality.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
The image called to mind the golden calf of Abrahamic religious texts, worshipped by the Israelites to Moses’—and God’s—dismay.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
A showreel of footballing memories - teams you loved, heroes you worshipped, the iconic shirts they wore.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
"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
What mattered to Mozart was that his music should be enjoyed, not that he should be worshipped or revered, and it is this quality of treasured delight that captures his age.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
I love the game too much and, if I am being candid, my team has usually been better than the one everyone around me worshiped, which does wonders for a boy’s sense of belonging.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 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
Is it the genre’s front-row seat on the turbulent, provocative, culture-shifting lives of artists we’ve worshiped from afar?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2025
The God she worshiped was a God of infinite mercy, of gentleness.
From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry
“That was perfect. And no one was going to come and say, ‘Why are you worshiping God?’”
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
Not by banning it or worshiping it, but by designing it to strengthen the irreplaceable human skills that business demands.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 25, 2026
But Rigney himself is focused on much more than worshiping Jesus and loving one another.
From Slate ● Jan. 30, 2026
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
He believes in the power of film and the strength we get from the communal aspect of worshipping at the movie house.
From Salon ● May 24, 2025
Many have been living, as well as worshipping, at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza City.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2025
He’s incapable of worshipping a god because he’s only capable of worshipping himself.
From Salon ● Mar. 6, 2024
It is no exaggeration to say that after and because of Beethoven music approached the status of a religion, complete with gods and goddesses for worshipping, a state of affairs that persists to this day.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
