ungodly
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ʌnˈɡɒdli/
ipa: /ʌnˈɡɑdli/
Forms: form: more ungodly
form: ungodlier
form: most ungodly
form: ungodliest
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.
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC; reprinted in The Pilgrim’s Progress as Originally Published by John Bunyan: Being a Fac-simile Reproduction of the First Edition, London: Elliot Stock […], 1875, →OCLC, pages 146–147:
text: [...] 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, [...]
ref: 1912, Ernst Troeltsch, “Protestantism and Politico-social Institutions”, in W. Montgomery, transl., Protestantism and Progress: A Historical Study of the Relation of Protestantism to the Modern World (Crown Theological Library; XXXVII), London: Williams & Norgate, […]; New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, pages 113–114:
text: This righteousness spoken about is a judicial or forensic declarative pronouncement given by God to the ungodly sinner who receives it by faith alone.
ref: 2013, Manny Alaniz, “The Traditional View of Imputed Righteousness”, in Deficiencies in the Justification of the Ungodly: A Look at N. T. Wright’s View of the Doctrine of Imputed Righteousness, Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock, →ISBN, page 48:
synonyms: impious
irreligious
irreverent
antonyms: godly
observant
pious
reverent
glosses: Of a person: lacking reverence for God; of an action: not in accordance with God's will or religious teachings.
examples: text: People often turn to ungodly ideas as an emotional response to trauma.
text: [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, [...]
ref: 1604, Jeremy Corderoy, A Short Dialogve, vvherein is Proved, that No Man can be Saved vvithout Good VVorkes, 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Simon Waterson, →OCLC, page 40:
text: 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.
ref: [1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 1:5–6, column 1:
text: [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.
ref: 1666, John Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners; or, A Brief and Faithful Relation of the Exceeding Mercy of God in Christ, to His Poor Servant, John Bunyan. […], London: […] William Drew […], published 1771, →OCLC, paragraph 26, page 17:
text: 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.
ref: 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC; reprinted in The Pilgrim’s Progress as Originally Published by John Bunyan: Being a Fac-simile Reproduction of the First Edition, London: Elliot Stock […], 1875, →OCLC, page 163:
text: It is I, ungodly Zarathustra, who say, 'Who is ungodlier than I, that I may enjoy his teaching?' [...] Behold, I myself am probably at present of us two the ungodlier one? But who could rejoice over that?
ref: 1896, Friedrich Nietzsche, “Off Duty”, in Alexander Tille, transl., Thus Spake Zarathustra […] (The Works of Friedrich Nietzsche; VIII), New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, 4th and last part, page 376:
text: Did some ungodly specter ride with him that neither he nor his horse had been hit? By what miracle had he come through that hail of lead without so much as a scratch?
ref: 1973, Matt Braun, chapter 4, in El Paso, St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, published July 1999, →ISBN, page 103:
text: In the past, she could remember exactly the same sourness of that ungodly emotion [jealousy] when she had noticed how Violet, Dick's sister, had loved Mark, [...]
ref: 1981, K. M. Peyton [pseudonym; Kathleen Wendy Herald Peyton], chapter 5, in Flambards Divided, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, published 1999, →ISBN, page 91:
synonyms: word: abandoned
word: arrant
word: bad
word: bad apple
word: bad seed
word: baleful
word: baneful
word: base
word: dark
word: deleterious
word: depraved
word: despicable
word: detrimental
word: devilish
word: diabolical
word: evil
word: flagitious
word: harmful
word: ill-intentioned
word: ill-natured
word: immoral
word: incorrigible
word: iniquitous
word: iniquous
word: injurious
word: knavish
word: malefic
word: maleficent
word: malevolent
word: malicious
word: malign
word: malignant
word: nefarious
word: niddering
word: nidering
word: niding
word: nithing
word: no-good
word: peccaminous
word: pernicious
word: reprehensible
word: reprobate
word: satanic
word: scathful
word: sinful
word: sinister
word: sordid
word: sullen
word: ungodly
word: unholy
word: vicious
word: vile
word: villainous
word: wicked
word: wrong
word: aberrant
word: corrupt
word: corrupted
word: depraved
word: dirty-handed
word: dissolute
word: effete
word: errant
word: indecent
word: indecorous
word: immodest
word: immoral
word: improper
word: incontinent
word: iniquitous
word: iniquous
word: licentious
word: obscene
word: perverse
word: perverted
word: profligate
word: unduteous
word: undutiful
word: unethical
word: ungodly
word: unjust
word: unprincipled
word: unrighteous
word: unseemly
word: unscrupulous
word: unworthy
word: wrong
antonyms: word: bad
word: dishonest
word: immodest
word: immoral
word: incontinent
word: indecent
word: obscene
word: reprehensible
word: risque
word: shameless
word: unchaste
word: wicked
glosses: Immoral, sinful, or wicked.
examples: text: We had to start our journey at an ungodly hour.
text: 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."
ref: 1915, Norman Douglas, “A Mountain Festival”, in Old Calabria, London: Martin Secker […], →OCLC, pages 151–152:
text: The minibus pulled up to an upscale hotel, whose bell staff were awake, even at this ungodly hour.
ref: 1998 August 3, Tom Clancy, “The Games Begin”, in Rainbow Six, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, published September 1999, →ISBN:
synonyms: dreadful
indecent
outrageous
glosses: Extreme; unreasonable.
Derived terms: ungodlily
ungodliness
ungodly hour