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PlainSpell

worldly

/ˈwɜː(ɹ)ldli/adjective, adverb

worldly is spelled W-O-R-L-D-L-Y: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, worldly means “Concerned with human or earthly matters, physical as opposed to spiritual” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in worldly?

Letters7: W-O-R-L-D-L-Y
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing2.2 times per million words; the 18,537th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is worldly?

Worldly appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce worldly?

  • /ˈwɜː(ɹ)ldli/

Worldly has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-worldly.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of worldly

  • worldlier comparative
  • more worldly comparative
  • worldliest superlative
  • most worldly superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does worldly mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Concerned with human or earthly matters, physical as opposed to spiritual.

  2. 2

    Concerned with secular rather than sacred matters.

  3. 3

    Sophisticated, especially because of surfeit; versed in the ways of the world.

adverb

  1. 1

    In a worldly manner.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Worldly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmondain (concerned with the human, earthly or physical…)
Germanweltlich (concerned with the human, earthly or physical…), weltgewandt, weltmännisch (versed in the ways of the world)
Portuguesemundano (concerned with the human, earthly or physical…)
Spanishmundano, mundanal (concerned with the human, earthly or physical…), de mucho mundo, cosmopolita (versed in the ways of the world), profano (concerned with the secular rather than sacred)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does worldly come from?

From Middle English worldly, worldlich, wordly (adjective), from Old English woruldlīċ, worldlīċ, weoroldlīċ (“worldly; earthly; temporal; mundane; secular”), from Proto-Germanic *weraldilīkaz, equivalent to world + -ly. Cognate with Dutch wereldlijk (“worldly; secular”), German Low German weltlik (“worldly”), German weltlich (“worldly”), Danish verdslig (“worldly”), Swedish världslig (“worldly”), Icelandic veraldlegur (“worldly; secular”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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