worship
Syllables: wor·shipUK/ˈwɜː.ʃɪp//ˈwɝ.ʃɪp/
worship noun: the devotion accorded to a deity or to a sacred object.
Noun (1)
worship (usually uncountable, plural worships)
- The devotion accorded to a deity or to a sacred object.
- Polytheistic theology and worship had to go underground.
- Synonyms:
- praise
- The adoration (or latria) owed to God alone, as greater than the hyperdulia that is given to Saint Mary only and the veneration (or dulia) accorded to all other Roman Catholic saints.
- The religious ceremonies that express this devotion.
- The worſhip of God is an eminent part of Religion; and Prayer, which is often in Scripture expreſſed by ſeeking God, and calling upon his Name, is a chief part of Religious Worſhip.1664, John Tillotson, “Sermon I. The Wisdom of Being Religious. Job XXVIII. 28.”, in The Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Tillotson, Late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: […], 8th edition, London...
- Voluntary, utter submission; voluntary, utter deference.
- Ardent love.
- An object of worship.
- In attitude and aspect formed to be / At once the artist's worship and despair!a. 1883 (date written; first published 1883 January), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Monologue”, in Michael Angelo: A Dramatic Poem, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […]...
- Used as a title or term of address for various officials, including magistrates.
- “I beg your worship’s pardon,” said Mr. Bumble, incredulous of his having heard aright,—“did your worship speak to me?”1837 March, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “Relates How Oliver Twist Was Very Near Getting a Place, Which Would Not Have Been a Sinecure”, in Oliver Twist; […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley...
- 'Your Worships, I have a submission to put before the court. As Your Worships are aware, it is the duty of the court under Section thirty-nine of the Children and Young Persons Act to protect the identity of minors who are victims of offences […]1999, Val McDermid, A Place of Execution, London: HarperCollins, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 209
- Honour; respect; civil deference.
- And many ſtrange aduentures to bee fond, / Of which great worth and worſhip may be wonne; […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 8, page 412
- But when thou art bidden, goe and sit downe in the lowest roume, that when he that bade thee commeth, hee may say vnto thee, Friend, goe vp higher: then shalt thou haue worship in the presence of them that sit at meate with thee.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 14:10
- The condition of being worthy; honour, distinction.
- I will be on horsbak said the knyght / thenne was Arthur wrothe and dressid his sheld toward hym with his swerd drawen / whan the knyght sawe that / he a lyghte / for hym thought no worship to haue a knyght at suche auaille he to be on horsbak and he on foot and so he alyght & dressid his sheld...1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xxiij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book I (in Middle English)
- Then he forth on his iourney did proceede, / To ſeeke aduentures, which mote him befall, / And win him worſhp through his warlike deed, […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 4
- The fact of an artist's music heavily drawing influence from some other artist's work in a way that appears too obvious or unapologetic; a piece of music that does this.
- In that time, McLachlan’s music has developed from adolescent Kate Bush worship to mature roots-driven folk (like the hits “Building a Mystery” and “Sweet Surrender”) and ballads (“Witness,” “I Love You”) that border on hymnody.1998 April 30, Chris Mundy, “Interview: Sarah McLachlan”, in Rolling Stone, New York, N.Y.: Penske Media Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 Jul 2023
- During his 15-year recording career, first with Galaxie 500 and now with Luna, Dean Wareham has shown all the signs of incurable Velvet Underground worship. The predilection for churning out ironic but always melodic rhythm-guitar-based tunes; the deadpan, almost-bored vocals: Why, it's enough to...2003 August 18, Michael Little, “Luna at Black Cat: Skipping to Their Lou”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 Jul...
Verb
worship (third-person singular simple present worships, present participle (US) worshiping or (UK) worshipping, simple past and past participle (US) worshiped or (UK) worshipped)
- To reverence (a deity, etc.) with supreme respect and veneration; to perform religious exercises in honour of.
- […] well ſaid yfaith neighbour Verges, God's a good man, and two men ride of a horſe, one muſt ride behinde, an honeſt ſoule yfaith ſir, by my troth he is, as euer broke bread, but God is to bee worſhipt, all men are not alike, alas good neighbour.1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- When all our Fathers worſhip't Stocks and Stones, […]1673, John Milton, “[Sonnet] XV. On the late Massacher in Piemont.”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: […] Tho[mas] Dring […], →OCLC, page 58
- To honour with extravagant love and extreme submission, as a lover; to adore; to idolize.
- With bended knees I daily worship her, / Yet she consumes her own Idolater.c. 1639, Thomas Carew, The Poems and Masque of Thomas Carew, London: Reeves and Turner, published 1893, →OCLC, A Cruel Mistress, page 6
- “[…] And she would sit in the car and pretend to hold the wheel. All the household worshipped her! Even the police came to understand that. Ah, the beautiful little one!”1934, Agatha Christie, Murder on the Orient Express, New York: Pocket Books, published 1960, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 236
- To participate in religious ceremonies.
- We worship at the church down the road.
- To touch, fondle, or kiss in an intensely sensual way.
- The kiss is heady and passionate. I show him how far we are from being over by worshipping him with my lips.2018, Lauren Connolly, You Only Need One
- He moves lower to worship my breasts with his mouth, his teeth raking lightly over my nipple with the perfect amount of friction to build the pleasure coiling tight within me.2023, Rebecca Yarros, Iron Flame
Noun (2) capitalized: Worship
Worship (plural Worships)
- A form of address of a mayor and other dignitaries
- A form of address of a mayor.
Proper noun capitalized: Worship
Worship
- A surname.
worship meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
worship in Hindi
- devotion accorded to a deity or to a sacred object
- पूजा pūjā, अर्चना arcanā, उपासना upāsnā, इबादत ibādat
- honor and adore, especially as a deity
- अर्चना arcanā
worship in Tamil
- honor and adore, especially as a deity
- தொழு toḻu, வழிபடு vaḻipaṭu, கும்பிடு kumpiṭu
worship in Marathi
- पूजा करा, पूजा करणे, पूजा-अर्चना
worship in Urdu
- devotion accorded to a deity or to a sacred object
- عبادت ibādat, پوجا pūjā
- religious ceremonies that express this devotion
- پوجا pūjā
More languagesFewer languages
- worship in Bengali
- পূজা puja, এবাদত ebadot, বন্দেগী bondegi, পূজা করা puja kora
- worship in Telugu
- ఉపాసన upāsana, ఉపాసించు upāsiñcu
- worship in Malayalam
- ആരാധന ārādhana, യജ്ഞം yajñaṁ, വന്ദിക്കുക vandikkuka
- worship in Kannada
- ಭಕ್ತಿ, ಗೌರವ, ಪ್ರಶಂಸೆ, ಪ್ರೇಮ
- worship in Punjabi
- پوجا pūjā, ਪੂਜਾ pūjā
- worship in Gujarati
- પૂજા pūjā, આરાધના ārādhnā, ઇબાદત ibādat
- worship in Odia
- ପୂଜା pujā, ମାନ māna
- worship in Sanskrit
- अर्चा arcā, पूजा pūjā, यजति yajati
- worship in Assamese
- সেৱা xewa, ভাজ bhaz
- worship in Nepali
- पूजा, पूजा-अर्चना, पूजा गर्ने
- worship in Arabic
- عِبَادَة ʕibāda, سَجَدَ sajada, عَبَدَ ʕabada
- worship in Malay
- sembah
- worship in Indonesian
- sembah
- worship in Persian
- پرستیدن
- worship in Thai
- บูชา buu-chaa
- worship in Vietnamese
- sùng bái, lễ bái, thờ
- worship in Myanmar
- ရှိခိုး hri.hkui:, ပူဇော် pujau, ကန်တော့ kantau.
Examples of worship in a sentence
- During his 15-year recording career, first with Galaxie 500 and now with Luna, Dean Wareham has shown all the signs of incurable Velvet Underground worship.2003 August 18, Michael Little, “Luna at Black Cat: Skipping to Their Lou”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post...
- A couple songs are pretty close to My Bloody Valentine worship (which suits me fine).2020 October 17, Nathaniel FitzGerald, “The Worst Debuts From Great Bands”, in A Year of Vinyl, archived from the original on 23 Mar 2023:
- Propaganda officials in Zhejiang have accused him of “worshiping the West.”2025 October 7, Lily Kuo, “China Punishes ‘Excessively Pessimistic’ Social Media Users”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New...
- Telling Kieran exactly how to please me, Kieran listening to every word and taking his time, making sure everything felt amazing, worshipping me with his hands and his mouth.2024, Sarah Chamberlain, The Slowest Burn:
Synonyms of worship
18 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of worship
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | worships |
| plural | Worships |
| alternative form (obsolete) | wurship |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | worships |
| present participle US | worshiping |
| present participle UK | worshipping |
| past participle US | worshiped |
| past US | worshiped |
| past participle UK | worshipped |
| past UK | worshipped |
Origin of worship
Inherited from Middle English worschippe /worthschipe, inherited from Old English weorþsċiepe. Cognate with Scots worschip (“worship”). By surface analysis, wor(th) + -ship.
Words formed from worship
- airship
- ancestor worship
- bread-worship
- celebrity worship syndrome
- fire worship
- foot worship
- freedom of worship
- hero worship
- Her Worship
- His Worship
- house of worship
- muscle worship
- place of worship
- self-worship
- worshipable
- worshiper
- worshipful
- Worshipful Master
- worshiping
- worship of adoration
- worship of hyperveneration
- worship of hyper-veneration
- worship of veneration
- worshippability
- worshippable
- worshipped
- worshipper
- worshipping
- worship song
- worshipworthy
- Your Worship
- worship the ground someone walks on
- worship the porcelain god
- worship the porcelain goddess
Phrases with worship
Words that rhyme with worship
Questions about worship
- What does worship mean?
- Worship means the devotion accorded to a deity or to a sacred object.
- What is worship in Hindi?
- Worship in Hindi is पूजा (pūjā), अर्चना (arcanā), उपासना (upāsnā). See Worship meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use worship in a sentence?
- During his 15-year recording career, first with Galaxie 500 and now with Luna, Dean Wareham has shown all the signs of incurable Velvet Underground worship.
- What part of speech is worship?
- Worship can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce worship?
- Worship is pronounced /ˈwɜː.ʃɪp/ (UK).
- What is the plural of worship?
- The plural of worship is worships.
Words near worship in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: worship (page history and authors); Worship (page history and authors); worship (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ആരാധന (Malayalam) (page history and authors); worship (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); پوجا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ପୂଜା (Odia) (page history and authors); ভাজ (Assamese) (page history and authors); worship (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-worship.ogg.
Cite this entry: “worship.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/worship. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.