Can worldliness be a compliment?

Solution 1:

There are two opposing connotations here, it's true. However, it'll be very clear which one you mean depending on how you use it.

Generally speaking, if you use it referring directly to a person they would only perceive it as a compliment - meaning experienced and sophisticated.

Conversely, the negative connotation of the word is when you use it in a sentence like "obsessed with worldly gains" or "focused on their worldly possessions". When you use the adjective with a noun and imply that person in the sentence at the same time, this wouldn't look good for them.

So for example:

Positive: He is a very kind and worldly person. His worldliness impressed us all.

Negative: He couldn't part with his worldly goods. He was always obsessed with worldly gain.

See here:

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/worldly

Solution 2:

If by "wordly", you mean having abundant wisdom and perspective because of their experience abroad, by all means use "worldliness" and disregard the suggestions to substitute another synonym. With all due respect to the other answers, "astuteness" and "knowledge" only tell part of the story while "wordliness" really does say it all most concisely, in my opinion. To Nigel's concern about definition #2, without an additional qualifier, I wouldn't be too worried about conveying the wrong impression.

Solution 3:

I think it’s okay. It sounds a bit off but it is grammatically correct. But it would be better if you said knowledge or maybe knowledge of the world.