worthy
/'wə:ði/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective:
- Deserving respect, admiration, or support: Having good qualities that are recognized and valued; honorable.
- Deserving of something: Having sufficient merit or importance to justify a particular action, reaction, or condition.
Noun:
- A person of importance or high standing: Often used humorously or ironically to refer to a notable or respected person in a community.
Examples
Adjective:
- She dedicated her life to worthy causes like education and poverty relief.
- His brave actions were worthy of a medal.
- This is a worthy opponent; we must prepare carefully for the match.
Noun:
- The town's worthies gathered for the annual festival planning meeting.
- He was introduced to the local worthies, including the mayor and the bank manager.
Advanced Usage
"Worthy of": This is the most common construction, used to indicate that something deserves or merits the thing that follows.
- The discovery is worthy of further investigation. (The discovery deserves more investigation.)
- Her performance was not worthy of her true talent. (Her performance did not deserve the high standard of her talent.)
As a suffix "-worthy": Can be added to nouns to form adjectives meaning "deserving of" or "suitable for."
- The film was praiseworthy for its original storytelling. (Deserving praise.)
- Is this container seaworthy? (Suitable for sea travel.)
Variants and Related Words
- Worthily (adverb): In a way that deserves respect or merit.
- He acted worthily in a difficult situation.
- Worthiness (noun): The quality of being worthy.
- The committee questioned the worthiness of the project for funding.
Synonyms
- Adjective: Deserving, commendable, admirable, reputable, honorable, estimable, meritorious.
- Noun: Dignitary, notable, luminary, personage.
Antonyms
- Adjective: Unworthy, worthless, undeserving, contemptible, disreputable.
Related Idioms and Phrases
- A worthy cause: A charitable project or goal that is considered deserving of support.
- Donating to the children's hospital is a worthy cause.
- Worthy adversary/opponent: A competitor who is respected because they are good at what they do.
- The chess champion finally met a worthy opponent.
Adjective
- having qualities or abilities that merit recognition in some way
- behavior worthy of reprobation
- a fact worthy of attention
- worthy of being chosen especially as a spouse
- the parents found the girl suitable for their son
- having worth or merit or value; being honorable or admirable
- a worthy fellow
- a worthy cause
Noun
- an important, honorable person (word is often used humorously)
- he told his story to some conservative worthies
- local worthies rarely challenged the chief constable