as in sophisticated
having a wide and refined knowledge of the world especially from personal experience
her long career as a globe-trotting journalist has made her very worldly-wise
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of worldly-wise
Crucially, they are grounded in real-world experiences, from a recent exchange with worldly-wise restaurant waitresses in Bordeaux exemplifying trust and collaboration, to the coaching of top CEOs over the past 20 years.
—
Hec Paris Insights, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2024
Heather Alicia Simms and Vanessa Bell Calloway are both sharp, witty, and poignant without sentimentality as the play’s two matriarchal figures, the formidable Missy Judson and Idella Landy, the wry, worldly-wise housekeeper who essentially raised Charlie.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 16 June 2024
Parroni does a good job of balancing the way that adolescents veer from experimenting with a worldly-wise cynicism and dipping back into the wildness of childhood.
—Catherine Bray, Variety, 9 Sep. 2023
Hec Paris Insights, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2024
Heather Alicia Simms and Vanessa Bell Calloway are both sharp, witty, and poignant without sentimentality as the play’s two matriarchal figures, the formidable Missy Judson and Idella Landy, the wry, worldly-wise housekeeper who essentially raised Charlie.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 16 June 2024
Parroni does a good job of balancing the way that adolescents veer from experimenting with a worldly-wise cynicism and dipping back into the wildness of childhood.
—Catherine Bray, Variety, 9 Sep. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for worldly-wise
Adjective
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With its sky-high housing and living costs and its large and sophisticated workforce and population, the minimum wage that Albany dictates for the state will always be far too low to guarantee city workers a decent living.—
Paul Sonn,
New York Daily News,
4 June 2025
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The foremost conflict playing out across the Middle East today is between Israel and Iran, a nation that already possesses a sophisticated and large-scale nuclear program.—
Tom O'Connor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 June 2025
Adjective
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Despite the change in government, Hong Kong was still portrayed as a vibrant, cosmopolitan trading hub after the handover of the territory.—
H.M.A. Leow,
JSTOR Daily,
6 June 2025
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Khartoum was a little more cosmopolitan, but Arabs unquestionably held the power in the capital.—
Nicolas Niarchos,
New Yorker,
19 May 2025
Adjective
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Members of the second live according to self-love and seek worldly power.—
Alejandro Antonio Chafuen,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2025
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But after loading all her worldly possessions into the back of Sam’s decaying van-cab, what should have been a simple fare becomes a wild, late-night odyssey.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
6 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Worldly-wise.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/worldly-wise. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
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