worthwhile

See also: worth while

English

Alternative forms

worth while
worthwile (archaic)

Etymology

From worth (adjective) +‎ while (noun).^[1]

Pronunciation

(UK, wine–whine merger) IPA^(key): /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/
- Audio (Southern England): (file)
(UK, without the wine–whine merger) IPA^(key): /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈʍaɪl/
(General American, Canada, wine–whine merger) IPA^(key): /ˌwɝθˈwaɪl/
(General Australian, wine–whine merger) IPA^(key): /ˌwɜːθˈwɑel/
Rhymes: -aɪl

Adjective

worthwhile (comparative more worthwhile, superlative most worthwhile)

Good and important enough to spend time, effort, or money on.
Doing volunteer work to help others is truly worthwhile.

Synonyms

worth it

Related terms

worth one’s while

Translations

good and important enough to spend time, effort, or money on

Bulgarian: който си струва (kojto si struva)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 值得 (zh) (zhídé), 划算 (zh) (huásuàn), 划得來 (zh) (huádelái)
Danish: umagen værd, svarer sig, betaler sig
Dutch: de moeite lonend, de moeite waard, waardevol (nl)
Esperanto: inda (eo)
Finnish: vaivan arvoinen
French: de valeur, qui en vaut la peine
German: lohnend (de), wertvoll (de), sinnvoll (de)
Hungarian: érdemes (hu)
Interlingua: de valor, que vale le pena
Italian: che vale la pena
Maori: whaihua
Norwegian: umaken verd
Polish: opłacalny (pl)
Portuguese: vantajoso (pt)
Russian: сто́ящий (ru) (stójaščij)
Scottish Gaelic: fiach
Spanish: de valor, que vale la pena, que merece la pena, que compensa el esfuerzo
Turkish: değer (tr), faydalı (tr), yararlı (tr)
Welsh: gwerth chweil

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Korean: ^{(please verify)} 값지다 (gapjida)
Swahili: ^{(please verify)} dhamana (sw)

References

^ “worthwhile, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

[1] “worthwhile, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

[1]