ungodly

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
12
Words With Friends
15
Letters
7
Pronunciation
/ʌnˈɡɒdli/
See all 2 pronunciations
/ʌnˈɡɒdli/ · /ʌnˈɡɑdli/

Definition of ungodly

4 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

adj

  1. Of a person: lacking reverence for God; of an action: not in accordance with God's will or religious teachings.
    “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.”
See all 4 definitions

adj

  1. Of a person: lacking reverence for God; of an action: not in accordance with God's will or religious teachings.
    “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.”
  2. Immoral, sinful, or wicked.
    “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.”
    “[T]here ſat within the woman of the houſe, and heard me; who, though ſhe was a very looſe and ungodly wretch, yet proteſted, that I [John Bunyan] ſwore and curſed at that moſt fearful rate, that ſhe was made to tremble to hear me; and told me further, that I was the ungodlieſt fellow for ſwearing that ever ſhe heard in all her life; and that I, by thus doing, was able to ſpoil all the youth in the whole town, if they came but in my company.”
    “Beſides, he hath not been afraid to rail on you, my Lord, who are now appointed to be his Judge, calling you an ungodly Villain, with many other ſuch like vilifying terms, with which he hath beſpattered most of the Gentry of our Town.”
  3. (informal)Extreme; unreasonable.
    “We had to start our journey at an ungodly hour.”
    “It is a vast picnic in honour of the Virgin. [...] A heaving ebb and flow of humanity fills the eye; fires are flickering before extempore shelters, and an ungodly amount of food is being consumed, as traditionally prescribed for such occasions—"si mangia per divozione."”
    “The minibus pulled up to an upscale hotel, whose bell staff were awake, even at this ungodly hour.”

adv

  1. (obsolete)In an impious, irreverent, or ungodly manner; ungodlily.
    “Beholde⸝ the lorde ſhall come with thouſandꝭ of ſayntꝭ⸝ to geve iudgement agaynſt all men⸝ and to rebuke all that are vngodly amonge them⸝ of all their vngodly dedes⸝ which they have vngodly cõmitted⸝ [...]”
    “It is ungodly made, fashioned by man, a beast spun from fire and steel.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

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”),…

See full 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.

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