Word.ws English Dictionary

in the world

in the world prepositional phrase: an intensifier, often used after an interrogative word.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (idiomatic) An intensifier, often used after an interrogative word.
    • What in the world was that?
    • Who in the world would want to do that?
  2. Used for emphasis after a qualified noun.
    • the happiest girl in the world
    • Writing a “Treehouse Of Horror”segment has to be both exhilarating and daunting. It’s exhilarating because it affords writers all the freedom in the world.2012 April 29, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)”, in AV Club
  3. In this present age; here and now.
    • In the world you will have trouble, but I leave you my peace that where I am there you may also be.1998, Rich Mullins, “That Where I am There You...”
    1. Characteristic of wider society; worldly.
      • With some effort and discipline anyone can learn to get up early and to stand through long church services, to make prostrations and to work, and work hard, at jobs that you don’t necessarily like. A lot of people in the world have a much more difficult life in that sense.2023 July 7 (last accessed), “Monasticism in 21st Century”, in The Holy Monastery of St Paisius

Synonyms of in the world

Questions about in the world

What does in the world mean?
In the world means an intensifier, often used after an interrogative word.
What part of speech is in the world?
In the world is a prepositional phrase.

Words near in the world in the dictionary

  1. in the wild
  2. in the wind
  3. in the wind's eye
  4. in the wink of an eye
  5. in the works
  6. in the world
  7. in the worst way
  8. in the wrong
  9. in the wrong place at the wrong time
  10. in the zone
  11. in theory

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: in the world (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-in the world.ogg.

Cite this entry: “in the world.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/in_the_world. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.