the way/ways of the world

noun phrase

: how things happen or how people behave
Success comes easier for some people. That's just the way of the world.
Because he was young and inexperienced in the ways of the world, people were able to take advantage of him.

Examples of the way/ways of the world in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
And that's a shame for us old schoolers who were just down there doing our thing, but sometimes that's just the way of the world. — Shonda Novak, Austin American Statesman, 30 July 2025 That is increasingly the way of the world in college sports, for both football and basketball. — Jon Wilner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 June 2025 A lot of times, with older people, we just get used to the ways of the world. — Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 11 May 2025 The rest of the film takes place in a prison, where Henry’s gruff but philosophical cellmate, Gene (Shia LaBeouf), tries to teach him the ways of the world. — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 30 Apr. 2025 The parents’ intention was not only to get the boys out of their hair for a while but also to toughen them up and introduce them to the ways of the world well beyond what would now be called their comfort zones. — Graydon Carter, The Atlantic, 14 Mar. 2025 After all, the way of the world is that children sit shivah for parents, not the reverse. — Rabbi Avi Weiss, Sun Sentinel, 28 Oct. 2024 Notebook was rooted in the soils of print, a monthly reflection on the ways of the world, intended to acquaint the magazine’s readers with the presuppositions of its editor. — Harper’s Magazine, Harper's Magazine, 2 Oct. 2024 If your $10 lunch becomes $10.20 over the course of a year, well, that’s just the way of the world. — Allison Morrow, CNN, 16 Aug. 2024

Browse Nearby Words

the way things are going
the way/ways of the world
the weak
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“The way/ways of the world.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20way%2Fways%20of%20the%20world. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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