What does worldling mean?
A worldling is a person regarded as insignificant, trivial, or overly absorbed in worldly and material affairs. The word has an old-fashioned, literary sound and is normally critical rather than neutral. In one sense, it labels someone as a person of little consequence; in another, it suggests that someone is preoccupied with wealth, comfort, status, or other worldly interests. The two meanings can overlap, since a figure dismissed as trivial may also be portrayed as narrow or materially minded. Historically, worldling could also be used more broadly for a person who belonged to the world, meaning an ordinary human inhabitant of the earth, but that less evaluative use is uncommon today. The term appears especially in literary and moral contexts, where characters are judged by their spiritual depth or concern for principles. Its sharp, slightly old-fashioned character makes it useful for vivid criticism, though modern prose will often prefer more explicit terms such as materialist, cynic, or trivial person.
nounA person regarded as insignificant, trivial, or chiefly concerned with worldly and material affairs. In older or literary usage, it can also refer generally to a person belonging to the world.
- A person considered insignificant, trivial, or of little importance.
- A person excessively concerned with worldly, material, or self-interested affairs.
"In the play, the banker is treated as a worldling who measures virtue only in wealth."
"The politician dismissed his opponents as worldlings who valued wealth more than public service."
"To the ascetic, anyone distracted by comfort and status was a worldling."
The regular plural is worldlings; the word is normally literary and often derogatory.
"The novel portrays the ruling class as a group of self-satisfied worldlings."
Worldling compresses a sharp judgment into one word: it can call someone both insignificant and absorbed in the material world.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does worldling come from?
Worldling is an English formation combining world with the suffix -ling, which can create a noun referring to a person or a lesser thing. Its base word comes from Old English worold, the ancestor of modern world. The compound belongs to the same English word family as derivatives and compounds such as worldly, worldwide, worldless, and worldweary, although worldling itself carries a distinctly evaluative sense.
Related word forms
How worldling is actually used
The word is chiefly literary, archaic, or dismissive rather than neutral. Its tone is usually critical, suggesting shallowness, triviality, or absorption in material concerns.
Easily confused with worldling
A worldling is a noun meaning a person, whereas worldly is an adjective describing attachment to earthly or material affairs, or sometimes worldly experience.