worldly
/ˈwɜː(ɹ)ldli/
"worldly" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“worldly” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #18,738. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #18,738
- frequency rank, English
- 1,759
- “W” headwords
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Concerned with human or earthly matters, physical as opposed to spiritual.
Corpus desk
Index EN-worldly · worldly · English
worldly · rank #18,738 · 12 variants · 6 confusables
- FREQ-MID #18,738
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
- VAR-MID 12 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,759
- PHOTO-FINISH wick
Nearest frequency peer: wick (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “worldly”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- viva
viva
81,269 corpus weight
- volcanoes
volcanoes
81,268 corpus weight
- washer
washer
81,267 corpus weight
- watered
watered
81,266 corpus weight
- wick
wick
81,264 corpus weight
- worldly
worldly
81,263 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “worldly” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | worldly |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈwɜː(ɹ)ldli/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #18,738 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “worldly” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 12 spelling variants around worldly (IPA /ˈwɜː(ɹ)ldli/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #18,738 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for worldly, with forms such as "owrldly", "wolrdly", and "wordlly". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "worlds", "world", "wordy", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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 (“worl… The correct English form is worldly, spelled W-O-R-L-D-L-Y.
Definition
- 1Concerned with human or earthly matters, physical as opposed to spiritual.
- 2Concerned with secular rather than sacred matters.
- 3Sophisticated, especially because of surfeit; versed in the ways of the world.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how worldly appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
1868, Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, Part Two, Chapter Twenty-four: Gossip, These attributes, in spite of poverty and the strict integrity which shut him out from the more worldly successes, attracted to him many admirable persons, as naturally as sweet herbs draw bees, and as naturally he gave them the honey into which fifty years of hard experience ha…
c. 1883-1896, Vyasa, Kisari Mohan Ganguli (translator), The Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva, Section LXXXV, Thirst of enjoyment, therefore, should be given up. Indeed, true happiness belongeth to them that have cast off their thirst for worldly objects--a thirst which is difficult to be thrown off by the wicked and the sinful, which faileth not with the fa…
Etymology
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”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- owrldly
- wolrdly
- wordlly
- worlddly
- worldlly
- worldlyy
- worldyl
- worlldly
- worlldy
- worrldly
- wroldly
- wworldly
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of worldly - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "worldly"?
What does "worldly" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "worldly"?
How do you pronounce "worldly"?
What is the origin of the word "worldly"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "worldly", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "worldly". Here's where to go from here.
- "worldly" maps to 6 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "worlds". View pair
- 12 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #18,738 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "W" letter cohort. W–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.