What does "worth" mean?

1. (financial value) having a specific value in money. 2. (deserving of effort) good enough for you to spend time, money, or effort on it. 3. (personal merit) the quality that makes someone or something important or useful. 4. (an amount over time) the amount of something that you can get or do in a certain period of time.

worth — meaning, definition & examples

Q: Is it correct to say "The museum is worth to visit."?

No — say "The museum is worth visiting.". After 'worth', use the -ing form of a verb, not the infinitive with 'to'.

Word

01financial value

A2 · Elementary

adj. having a specific value in money.

adj. having a specified value; used predicatively to indicate the monetary price or exchange value of an object.

“The old gold ring is worth about five hundred dollars today.”

“Experts estimate that the recovered shipwreck is worth millions, though the historical value of the artefacts far outweighs their potential auction price.”

Usage

Always followed by a noun phrase or a number indicating value.

Synonyms

valued atpriced at

02deserving of effort

B1 · Intermediate

adj. good enough for you to spend time, money, or effort on it.

adj. deserving of the time, effort, or attention required for a particular activity.

“It was a long walk to the top of the hill, but the view was worth it.”

“While the initial investment is significant, the long-term energy savings make the solar panel installation well worth the expense.”

Usage

Often used in the pattern 'worth doing something' or 'worth the effort'.

Pitfall

The museum is worth to visit.

The museum is worth visiting.

After 'worth', use the -ing form of a verb, not the infinitive with 'to'.

Synonyms

meriting deserving

Antonyms

worthless

03personal merit

B1 · Intermediate Uncountable noun

n. the quality that makes someone or something important or useful.

n. the quality that renders a person or thing highly useful, important, or estimable.

“The company quickly realised the true worth of their new employee.”

“The true worth of a mentor is often only fully appreciated years later, when their advice finally resonates with a student's lived experience.”

Synonyms

value merit importance

Antonyms

uselessness

04an amount over time

B2 · Upper Intermediate Uncountable noun

n. the amount of something that you can get or do in a certain period of time.

n. the amount of something that can be produced, consumed, or achieved within a specified duration.

“She bought a week's worth of groceries so she wouldn't have to shop again.”

“The hard drive contained ten years' worth of family photos and documents, making its recovery a top priority for the technician.”

Usage

Usually follows a time expression with a possessive 's or s'.

Synonyms

amount supply

Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word “worth” in context.

Verb

01. estimate the worth

“The expert will estimate the worth of the antique jewelry before the auction.”

verb + noun

02. prove your worth

“The new player worked hard in every game to prove his worth to the team.”

verb + possessive + noun

03. realize the worth of the collection

“It took many years for the family to realize the worth of the art collection.”

verb + noun + of + noun

Adjective

04. net worth

“The businessman's net worth increased significantly after he sold his company.”

adj + noun

05. true worth

“The true worth of a friend is shown during difficult times.”

adj + noun

Noun

06. sense of worth

“Volunteering at the hospital gave her a great sense of worth and purpose.”

noun + of + noun

07. ten dollars' worth of petrol

“I only had enough money to buy ten dollars' worth of petrol for the car.”

measure + of + noun

08. worth noting

09. worth of goods

10. worth an estimated

11. worth remembering

12. worth taking

“I think I found an AI agent worth the risk.”

WIRED 24 Sept 2026

From Middle English worth, from Old English weorþ, from Proto-West Germanic werþ, from Proto-Germanic werþaz (“worthy, valuable”); from Proto-Indo-European *wert-. Cognate with Scots wirth (“worth”), Cimbrian bèart (“worth, value”), Dutch waard, weerd (“worth”), German wert (“worth”), Luxembourgish wäert (“worth”), Yiddish ווערט (vert), ווערד (verd, “worth, value”), Danish værd (“worth”), Faroese and Icelandic verður (“worth”), Norwegian Bokmål verdt (“worth”), Norwegian Nynorsk verd (“worth”), Swedish värd (“worth”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸 (wairþ, “worth, value”), Welsh gwerth (“worth, value”), Polish wart (“worth”), Ukrainian вартість (vartistʹ, “worth, value”).

From Middle English worthen, wurthen, werthen, from Old English weorþan ("to come into being; be made; become; arise; be"), from Proto-West Germanic \werþan, from Proto-Germanic \werþaną ("to come about; happen; come into being; become"), from Proto-Indo-European \wert- ("to turn; turn out"). Cognate with Dutch worden, dated Low German warrn, German werden, Old Norse verða (Norwegian verta, Swedish varda), Latin vertere*.