worthy
adjective
having adequate or great merit, character, or value.
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worthy
1 American
[wur-thee]
/ ˈwɜr ði /
adjective
worthier,
worthiest
-
having adequate or great merit, character, or value.
a worthy successor.
-
of commendable excellence or merit; deserving of one's time, attention, interest, work, trouble, etc..
a book worthy of praise;
a person worthy to lead.
- Synonyms:
- honorable, upright, exemplary, excellent, estimable, worthwhile, meritorious, deserving
noun
worthies
plural
-worthy
2
American
worthy
British
/ ˈwɜːðɪ /
adjective
-
(postpositive; often foll by of or an infinitive) having sufficient merit or value (for something or someone specified); deserving
-
having worth, value, or merit
noun
Usage
What does -worthy mean? The combining form -worthy is used like a suffix meaning “deserving of,” "fit for," or "capable of travel in or on." It is occasionally used in a variety of everyday and technical terms. The form -worthy comes from Old English -wyrðe, meaning “worthy.”
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of worthy
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English; see origin at worth 1, -y 1
Explanation
Use the adjective worthy to describe the good causes to which you donate a little money each year. Their admirable qualities are what make them worthy. Something that deserves respect is worthy, whether it's a charity, a hard working tennis opponent, or a struggle to overcome a disability. If it's worth your admiration or has some inherent value, it's worthy. The word has been around since the thirteenth century, and it was especially common in the 1300's to use worthy as a noun meaning "person of merit."
Vocabulary lists containing worthy
Thumbs Up: Synonyms for "Good"
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 4
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"Do Family Meals Matter?" and "Fish Cheeks"
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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.
Projects on “Victorian poets,” a “German theologian,” a “German philosopher,” “British philosophers,” an “English philosopher and mathematician,” and an “Italian composer” were worthy of preservation.
From Slate • May 14, 2026
And yes, sometimes that means recommending specialty ingredients genuinely worthy of a relative splurge: the good vanilla, candied citrus, Kewpie over the bottom-shelf mayonnaise.
From Salon • May 12, 2026
Together, Currie’s killer crime novels cement the legend of Babs Dionne, an icon worthy of standing alongside Vito Corleone or Tony Soprano as the Queenpin of Crime.
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026
But these buffers are likely to erode quickly as model training expands, and temporary containment is unlikely to be a worthy substitute for durable defenses, the IMF said.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
“What’s an hour drive when it comes to showing my support for such a worthy cause?”
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
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.
