ungodly

Meaning

Adj

1. Of a person: lacking reverence for God; of an action: not in accordance with God's will or religious teachings.
2. Immoral, sinful, or wicked.
3. (informal) Extreme; unreasonable.

Adv

In an impious, irreverent, or ungodly manner; ungodlily.

Synonyms

impious

godless

sinful

iniquitous

wicked

unholy

eerie

evil

faithless

ghostly

graceless

immoral

impertinent

infidel

irreligious

irreverent

perfidious

profane

rascally

recreant

regardless

sacrilegious

spooky

supernatural

unbeliever

uncanny

unearthly

unfaithful

unrighteous

mpious

be irreligious

be undevout

accursed

unchurchly

atheist

bad

👎

blasphemous

depraved

disloyal

Hyphenated as

un‧god‧ly

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ʌnˈɡɒdli/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: ungodli

Inherited from Old English: godlīċ

Cognate with Middle Dutch: ongodelijc

Cognate with Dutch: ongoddelijk

Cognate with Middle High German: ungötlich

Cognate with German: ungöttlich

Cognate with Old Norse: óguðligr

Cognate with Danish: ugudelig

Cognate with Icelandic: óguðlegur

Cognate with Swedish: ogudlig

In summary

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”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰew- (“to libate, pour”), in the sense of a liquid offering poured out for a deity) + -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.