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unworthiness

unworthiness

3 7.5
A feeling that you are not good enough and do not deserve good things
  • noun
  • /ʌnˈwɜrðɪnəs/
translation icon : indignidad
  • She struggled with a deep sense of unworthiness that prevented her from accepting compliments.

You grew up with that, that feeling of unworthiness.

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Examples

  • Maybe this has left him with a feeling of unworthiness that needs to be proven wrong.

    Blog text (29)
  • In God's presence, Moses is acutely aware of his inadequacies, his fleshly tendencies, his unworthiness.

    Blog text (4)
  • May I ask where my unworthiness lies?

  • Now... what I most often feel is unworthiness.

  • With feelings of unworthiness, they feel only others are worthy of drawing near to God in His word.

    Blog text (7)
  • Above all, they lived without morbid worries about their souls, sin, or feelings of personal unworthiness.

    Academic text (2003)
  • With so many teenagers in my life, I hear their cries of unworthiness, and this is the only message that can quench those feelings.

    Blog text (34)
  • They see scarcity and competition and vengeance, unworthiness and weakness.

  • Zongker (1977) found that pregnant teenage girls had feelings of poor self-esteem, feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness, and were dissatisfied with their bodies.

    Academic text (1997)
  • A child largely ignored by his or her parents might grow up with feelings of insecurity, inadequacy, loneliness, and unworthiness and might spend most of his or her adult life trying to curry the favor and attention of others, even if this requires compromising his or her moral integrity.

    Academic text (2003)

Synonyms

worthlessness
vsunworthiness
3 6.3

A feeling that you have no value or importance

is about lacking value or deserving status rather than only lacking use
undeservingness
vsunworthiness
8.8

A feeling that you are not worthy of praise or reward

covers a general lack of worth, value, or deserving rather than specific rewards
valuelessness
vsunworthiness
6.8

A situation in which something has no value

also includes not being seen as deserving or valuable by others

Antonyms

13 4.7

Being seen as having value and deserving respect

How Worthy

excellence
150 3.2
worthiness
13 4.7
merit
258 3.5
unworthiness
3 7.5

Surface Forms

unworthiness singular
unworthies plural

Morphology

unworthiness = unworthy (transparent) = un + worth + y + ness

Formed by adding the productive nominalizing suffix '-ness' to the clearly derived adjective 'unworthy' (un- + worthy), so the formation and meaning are straightforward.

Etymology

Unworthiness is built from the negative un- meaning 'not', the word worthy (from the old idea of worth, meaning 'value' or 'deserving'), and the ending -ness that makes a 'state'. So unworthiness means the 'state' of not being worthy — not having value or feeling deserving.