worldly
/ˈwɜː(ɹ)ldli/
"worldly" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“worldly” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #18,738 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #18,738
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Concerned with human or earthly matters, physical as opposed to spiritual.
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
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for worldly is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈwɜː(ɹ)ldli/. Corpus data places it at rank #18,738 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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
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Using “worldly”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-O-R-L-D-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈwɜː(ɹ)ldli/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “worlds” - see the side-by-side comparison. worldly vs worlds
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.