worth

1 of 4

noun

ˈwərth How to pronounce worth (audio)
Synonyms of worthnext
1
a
: monetary value
farmhouse and lands of little worth
b
: the equivalent of a specified amount or figure
a dollar's worth of gas
2
: the value of something measured by its qualities or by the esteem in which it is held
a literary heritage of great worth
3
a
: moral or personal value
trying to teach human worth
b
: merit, excellence
a field in which we have proved our worth
4
: wealth, riches

worth

2 of 4

preposition

1
a
: equal in value to
b
: having assets or income equal to
2
: deserving of
well worth the effort

worth

3 of 4

adjective

1
archaic : having monetary or material value
2
archaic : estimable

worth

4 of 4

verb

worthed; worthing; worths

intransitive verb

archaic
: become
—usually used in the phrase woe worth
Phrases
worth one's salt
: of substantial or significant value or merit
for all one is worth
: to the fullest extent of one's value or ability see also for what it's worth

Synonyms

Noun

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of worth in a Sentence

Noun A diamond's worth is determined partly by its cut and clarity. The worth of the stocks has increased. The furniture was of little worth since it was in such bad condition.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
Scientists estimate a garbage truck's worth of plastic waste enters the oceans every minute, where large debris threatens fish, sea turtles and marine mammals with entanglement and smaller plastics enter the ocean food web. — Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 4 Mar. 2025 The Niners’ first big move of the offseason has already been made, but San Francisco has so much work left to do to rebuild a roster that will require two offseasons’ worth of work in one. — Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2025
Preposition
There’s still the longest road (now trade route) worth two victory points, and a cleanest environment card replaces the largest army card from the original. — Simon Hill, WIRED, 18 Aug. 2024 Aim to keep on hand at least three to six months’ worth of all nonnegotiable living expenses. Carry sufficient insurance. — Dallas News, 30 Oct. 2022
Adjective
Shop the Vogue Vintage Market to own a piece of fashion history while making a meaningful impact—because the only thing more timeless than vintage is a piece with a story worth telling. — Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 6 Mar. 2025 Still, with South Korea having been a frequent target of Trump’s grievances about trade deficits, Ahn added that participation in the Alaska pipeline project might be a strategic concession worth making. — Max Kim, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2025
Verb
Elliott has accumulated a stake that could worth as much as $2 billion, CNBC has previously reported. — Rohan Goswami, CNBC, 1 Aug. 2024 The responses from 1,300 players across the league present an unusually revealing look inside how franchises worth billions of dollars are still rankled by problems—with vast gaps in quality from team to team. — Andrew Beaton, WSJ, 2 Mar. 2023 See All Example Sentences for worth

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, going back to Old English weorþ, wyrth (strong neuter noun), going back to Germanic *werþa- (whence also Old Frisian werth, worth "value," Old Saxon werth "payment, price," Old High German werd "value, price," Old Icelandic verð, Gothic wairþ "price"), noun derivative from *werþa-, adjective, "of value" — more at worth entry 3

Preposition

Middle English, from worth worth entry 3

Adjective

Middle English, "having monetary value, valuable, having status, deserving, highborn, efficacious, strong," going back to Old English weorþ, wyrþ, worþ "having monetary value, valuable," going back to Germanic *werþa- (whence also Old Frisian werth "of value," Old Saxon werth "of value, worthy, dear," Old High German werd, wert "of value, valuable," Old Icelandic verðr "of value, worthy," Gothic wairþs "deserving"), of uncertain origin

Note: The Middle English adjective continues in part Old English wierðe, wyrðe "worthy, deserving," a ja-stem adjective from the same base. Welsh gwerth "worth, value, price" (whence gwerthu "to sell"), along with Middle Breton guerz, is perhaps an early loan from Old English.

Verb

Middle English worthen "to exist, be, come into existence, become, change, happen," going back to Old English weorþan, wurþan (class III strong verb) "to become, come to be, happen," going back to Germanic *werþan- (whence also Old Frisian wertha "to become, happen, arise," Old Saxon werthan, Old High German werdan, Old Icelandic verða, Gothic wairþan "to become"), going back to an Indo-European verbal base *u̯ert- "turn," whence also Latin vertō, vertere "to cause to revolve, turn, spin," vertor "(I) change direction, turn," Lithuanian verčiù, ver͂sti "to cause to turn," Sanskrit vártate "(it) turns, rolls, revolves"; with zero-grade ablaut Old Church Slavic vrǔštǫ, vrǔteti sę "to turn oneself"; with a causative stem *u̯ort- Old Church Slavic vraštǫ, vratiti "to make turn," Sanskrit vartáyati "(s/he) makes turn"; from an n-present Old Church Slavic obvrǔnǫti sę "to turn around," Tocharian B wärnāmane "turning"

Note: In Germanic the Indo-European base *u̯ert- "turn" developed the figurative sense "become, happen" (compare, in English, "the milk turned sour"), which has largely displaced the literal senses (but compare the suffix *-wearda- -ward entry 1).

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Preposition

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of worth was before the 12th century

Phrases Containing worth

Rhymes for worth

See All Rhymes for worth

Browse Nearby Words

worth
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Worth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/worth. Accessed 11 Mar. 2025.

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Kids Definition

worth

1 of 2 preposition
ˈwərth How to pronounce worth (audio)
1
a
: equal in value to
the vase is worth $200
b
: having possessions or income equal to
an actress worth millions
2
: deserving of
well worth the effort
3
: capable of
ran for all I was worth

worth

2 of 2 noun
1
a
: value in terms of money
furniture of little worth
b
: the equivalent of a certain amount or figure
five dollars worth of gas
2
: the value of something measured by its qualities
an experience of great worth
3
: excellence sense 1

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