Holy Willie

/ (ˈwɪlɪ) /


noun
  1. a person who is hypocritically pious

Origin of Holy Willie

1
C18: from Burns' Holy Willie's Prayer

Words Nearby Holy Willie

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use Holy Willie in a sentence

  • "Holy Willie's Prayer," one of the most withering satires on orthodox Christianity ever penned, was memorized by him.

  • I enclose you Holy Willie for the sake of giving you a little further information of the affair than Mr. Creech could do.

  • The rank absurdity of this doctrine was justly satirized by burns in the opening stanza of his "Holy Willie's Prayer:"

  • For Burns believed in his own mind that these men, Holy Willie and the crew he typified, were thoroughly dishonest.

    Robert Burns | Gabriel Setoun
  • He puts this impious doctrine into the mouth of Holy Willie.

    The Real Robert Burns | J. L. Hughes