ungodly
/ʌnˈɡɑdli/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.91 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of a person: lacking reverence for God; of an action: not in accordance with God's will or religious teachings.
Example Sentences
- "They ſay You are a ſpot among Chriſtians; and that Religion fareth the worſe for your ungodly converſation, that ſome have already ſtumbled at your wicked ways, and that more are in danger of being deſtroyed thereby; your Religion, and an Ale-Houſe, and Covetouſneſs, and uncleanneſs, and ſwearing, and lying, and vain-Company-keeping, &c., will ſtand together."
- "[...] Calvinism gave a much more radical development to its Law of Nature. It successfully established the principle of the right of resistance, which must be exercised on behalf of the word of God in the face of ungodly authorities, [...]"
- "This righteousness spoken about is a judicial or forensic declarative pronouncement given by God to the ungodly sinner who receives it by faith alone."
- "People often turn to ungodly ideas as an emotional response to trauma."
- "[N]ow ſuch as liue vngodly, vvithout a care of doing the wil of the Lord (though they profeſſe him in their mouths, yea though they beleeue and acknowledge all the Articles of the Creed, yea haue knowledge of the Scripturs) yet if they liue vngodly, they deny God, and therefore ſhal be denied, [...]"
- "Therefore the vngodly ſhall not ſtand in the iudgement, nor ſinners in the Congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the vngodly ſhall periſh."
Etymology
From Middle English ungodli [and other forms], from un- (prefix meaning ‘not’), + godli (“belonging to God; resembling God, godlike”). Godli is derived from Old English godlīċ (“divine, godlike; godly”), from god (“god”) + -līċ (“suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘characteristic of, pertaining to’”). The English word may be analysed as un- + godly, and is cognate with Middle Dutch ongodelijc (modern Dutch ongoddelijk), Middle High German ungötlich (modern German ungöttlich), Old Norse óguðligr (“ungodly”) (Danish ugudelig, Icelandic óguðlegur), Swedish ogudlig.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ʌnˈɡɑdli/
- British English: /ʌnˈɡɒdli/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more ungodly (comparative)
ungodlier (comparative)
most ungodly (superlative)
ungodliest (superlative)