unworthy

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + worthy,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} first as inherited from Middle English unworthī, also spelled unwurthi and onworthi.^[7][3] Similar formations are Middle Dutch onwerdich (now onwaardig), Middle Low German unwerdich, Old High German unwirdīg (now unwürdig) and Old Norse úverðugr,^[2][3] with Swedish ovärdig and Danish uværdig.^[2] Old English had unweorþlīc (“of little value; ignoble”).^[3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of things, having little or no value, and of persons, lacking merit or undeserving: before 1240, in the Wohunge,^[2] which speaks of "unwurði ribauz", worthless scoundrels.^[7] Etymonline dates it to the middle of the 13th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the middle of the 14th century the adjective took a complement, unworthy to do something or of something;^[2][7] from the 1380s, in the Wycliffite Bible, it was also used of treatment that was not deserved.^[2][9] Chaucer has it 16 times,^[10] as in "unworthy sone of Eve" in the Second Nun's Tale.^[7] From the 1530s it served as a conventional expression of humility.^[2] Since 1697, in Dryden's Aeneid, it has also meant beneath the character or dignity of someone.^[2][3] Johnson (1755) defined it first as "not deserving".^[11] A verb unworthy, to dishonour, was used from about 1230 to 1628.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1240 – worthless; of persons, undeserving.^[2]
• before 1350 – unworthy to do something.^[2]
• c. 1384 – of treatment, unmerited.^[2]
• 1533 – inferior to what is deserved; base.^[2]
• 1697 – unbefitting a person's character or dignity.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Undeserving of something, often with of: He felt unworthy of the honour.^[12][5][2]
2. Not fitting the character or standing of someone; beneath them: Such petty spite is unworthy of a judge.^[12][2]
3. Lacking value or merit; worthless, or base and dishonourable.^[12][5][2]
4. Of treatment, not deserved or warranted.^[12][2]

Noun

1. An unworthy person.^[5][4]

Adverb

1. (archaic) unworthily.^[5][4]

Word family

• unworthily
• unworthiness

Related words

• worth
• worthy

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
8. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins