God-fearing
Americanadjective
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deeply respectful or fearful of God.
-
(sometimes lowercase) deeply religious; pious; devout.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of God-fearing
First recorded in 1825–35
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And somewhere north of Richmond, Va., were those mysterious other people called Yankees—very unlike us God-fearing and patriotic Southerners, but Americans all the same.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
To hear it from Reagan, Afghanistan was one of the most beautiful, freedom-loving and God-fearing places in the world.
From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2025
From someone who described himself as "the all-knowing master of the universe", he now identifies as a God-fearing man who believes in good energies, the cyclic nature of life and "scientific astrologers".
From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2025
The story follows Dawn O’Keefe, a God-fearing good girl — surrounded by shame-lobbing, not-so-good men — whose body has a sharp sense of justice.
From New York Times ● Mar. 27, 2024
This ‘King’ you’re asking about, I hear many people—those that went to school and can read newspapers— say that he was a God-fearing man who died fighting to set his people free.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
