Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - worthy

~1 adj 1 a worthy person, plan etc deserves respect or admiration because they have good qualities  (a worthy opponent) 2 be worthy of to deserve to be thought about or treated in a particular way + of  (The plan is only worthy of our contempt.) 3 having many good qualities but not very interesting or exciting ~2 n formal someone who is important and should be respected  (Victorian worthies such as Ruskin)