worthy
UK /ˈwɜː.ði/ · US /ˈwɝ.ði/ adjective, noun, verb, proper noun
Forms worthier worthiest worthies worthying worthied
- adjective Having worth, merit, or value.
- adjective Admirable or honourable.
- adjective Deserving, or having sufficient worth.
- adjective Suited; suitable; befitting.
- noun A distinguished or eminent person.
- noun (Confucianism) a good, wise and virtuous person. “Confucius and Mencius are revered as the sages and worthies of Confucianism.”
- verb (transitive) To render or treat as worthy.
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun A hamlet in Porlock parish, Somerset, England (OS grid ref SS8548).
Synonyms
esteemed laudable venerated well-regarded admired applauded blessed distinguished eminent feared gloriful glorious honoured illustrious priceless reputable respected revered sacred treasured desirable suitable
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English worthy, wurthi, from Old English *weorþiġ (“worthy”), equivalent to worth + -y. Cognate with Dutch waardig (“worthy”), Middle Low German werdig (“worthy”), German würdig (“worthy”), Swedish värdig (“worthy”), Icelandic verðugur (“worthy”).
From Middle English worthien, wurthien, from Old English weorþian (“to esteem, honor, worship, distinguish, celebrate, exalt, praise, adorn, deck, enrich, reward”), from Proto-Germanic *werþōną (“to be worthy, estimate, appreciate, appraise”), from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with German werten (“to rate, judge, grade, score”), Swedish värdera (“to evaluate, rate, size up, assess, estimate”), Icelandic virða (“to respect, esteem”).
Possibly from worthy.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Having worth or excellence; possessing merit; valuable; deserving; estimable; excellent; virtuous.
- adjective Having suitable, adapted, or equivalent qualities or value; --usually with of before the thing compared or the object; more rarely, with a following infinitive instead of of, or with that; as, worthy of, equal in excellence, value, or dignity to; entitled to; meriting; --usually in a good sense, but sometimes in a bad one. No, Warwick, thou art worthy of the sway. Shak.
- noun A man of eminent worth or value; one distinguished for useful and estimable qualities; a person of conspicuous desert; --much used in the plural; as, the worthies of the church; political worthies; military worthies.
- verb To render worthy; to exalt into a hero. [Obs.] Shak.
Etymology [OE. worthi, wurÞi, from worth, wurÞ, n.; cf. Icel. verthugr, D. waardig, G. würdig, OHG. wirdig. See Worth, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “worthy”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details