Meaning & use
godlessness
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Meanings
noununcountabledisapproving
The state of having no belief in God or ignoring religion, especially when this is seen as a moral problem.
Grammar: No plural and no article: he complained about godlessness.
Patterns
- the godlessness of something
- accuse someone of godlessness
The preacher warned that the city was sinking into godlessness.
Critics accused the novel of promoting godlessness among young readers.
Her grandmother blamed every modern problem on godlessness.
noununcountableliteraryfigurative
A feeling of wickedness or moral emptiness in a place or period, as if nothing sacred were respected.
Grammar: Often figurative and used about a place or time: the godlessness of the war years.
Patterns
- the godlessness of a place
The soldiers wrote about the godlessness of the battlefield.
He felt the godlessness of the empty, ruined town.
Common combinations
- sink into godlessness
- They feared the country would sink into godlessness.
- accuse of godlessness
- The villagers accused the stranger of godlessness.
- an age of godlessness
- Some writers called the era an age of godlessness.
- moral godlessness
- He spoke about the moral godlessness of modern life.
Synonyms and how they differ
- atheism
- Atheism neutrally names the belief that no god exists, while godlessness often carries moral disapproval.
- irreligion
- Irreligion is a formal term for lack of religion without the accusing tone of godlessness.
- ungodliness
- Ungodliness stresses wicked behavior against religious values, whereas godlessness stresses the absence of belief.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: godlessness or godliness?
godlessness vs godliness
Godliness is the quality of being devout, the opposite of godlessness, so check the prefix-like ending carefully.
Practice
Which word is the opposite of godlessness?
Choose one answer.
Godliness means devout religious living, which is the opposite; the other three all describe a lack of religion or piety.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “godlessness”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.