Word.ws English Dictionary

Mary Worth

Mary Worth proper noun: an American comic strip character, noted for her kindly role in solving other people's problems.

Proper noun

Mary Worth (plural Mary Worths)

  1. An American comic strip character, noted for her kindly role in solving other people's problems.
    • "She was the Mary Worth of the district," says her grandson. Edward McCormack Jr. "The one whom everybody came to with their troubles, arbiter of disputes, nurse of the sick, comforter of the oppressed."1962, Time, volume 79, numbers 1-13, page 17
    • But Orwell's portrayal of dark-jowled KGB-type Thought Police so alerted us to that type of threat that we've been left wide open to be preyed upon by the Ellsworth Tooheys and Mary Worths of the world, those insidious manipulators whose soliticious omnipresence has created the same...1973, Car and Driver, editorial, volume 19 page 8
  2. A spirit of folklore that can be summoned in a mirror, known by various "Mary" names.
    • Generally known as a girls' tradition common in elementary school, Mary Worth rituals invoke the atmosphere of the seance, but surround that custom in a particular legend.1988, Simon J. Bronner, American Children's Folklore, August House, page 168
    • There was another face in the mirror. ... Mary Worth.1999, Bentley Little, The House, Penguin

Examples of Mary Worth in a sentence

  • Jessica Fletcher, the widowed detective of Murder She Wrote (1984-1996), extended the Mary Worth tradition of kindly meddling to the criminal scene.2002, John Shelton Lawrence, Robert Jewett, The Myth of the American Superhero, Wm. B. Eerdmans, page 75:
  • The Mary Worth syndrome—is a euphemism for not facing your own devils.2010, Bill Blanchet, The Reform Plan, Trafford Publishing, page 125:
  • I believe in Mary Worth.” Maria's tone was serious as she repeated the phrase.2008, JC Conrad-Ellis, Boys, Beauty and Betrayal, Nightengale Press, page 28:

Forms of Mary Worth

pluralMary Worths

Questions about Mary Worth

What does Mary Worth mean?
Mary Worth means an American comic strip character, noted for her kindly role in solving other people's problems.
How do you use Mary Worth in a sentence?
Jessica Fletcher, the widowed detective of Murder She Wrote (1984-1996), extended the Mary Worth tradition of kindly meddling to the criminal scene.
What part of speech is Mary Worth?
Mary Worth is a proper noun.

Words near Mary Worth in the dictionary

  1. Mary Sueish
  2. Mary Sues
  3. Mary Tavy
  4. Mary the Magdalene
  5. Mary Warner
  6. Mary Worth
  7. Mary's Harbour
  8. Mary-and-Joseph
  9. Mary-bud
  10. Mary-buds
  11. Mary-Lou

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Mary Worth (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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