Pietism

[ pahy-i-tiz-uhm ]
See synonyms for Pietism on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a movement, originating in the Lutheran Church in Germany in the 17th century, that stressed personal piety over religious formality and orthodoxy.

  2. the principles and practices of the Pietists.

  1. (lowercase) intensity of religious devotion or feeling.

  2. (lowercase) exaggeration or affectation of piety.

Origin of Pietism

1
1690–1700; <German Pietismus<Latin piet(ās) piety + German -ismus-ism

Other words for Pietism

Other words from Pietism

  • Pi·e·tist, noun
  • pi·e·tis·tic, pi·e·tis·ti·cal, adjective
  • pi·e·tis·ti·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Pietism in a sentence

  • Pecuniary profit he had never sought, and its pursuit he scorned.196 His views were dynamico-organic, pietistic, and antagonistic.

  • As long as the work was mostly in country villages the preaching was naturally of the Pietistic type.

  • It shows that there is some individuality developed among them, and that they will not become too exclusively pietistic.

  • High office could only be acquired by becoming a servile instrument of the pietistic party, which was headed by the king.

    The Prussian Terror | Alexandre Dumas
  • He never stooped to pietistic clap-trap, or chanted the jaunty chauvinism that has so often caused the Hoosier stars to blink.

British Dictionary definitions for pietism (1 of 2)

pietism

/ (ˈpaɪɪˌtɪzəm) /


noun
  1. a less common word for piety

  2. excessive, exaggerated, or affected piety or saintliness

Derived forms of pietism

  • pietist, noun
  • pietistic or pietistical, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for Pietism (2 of 2)

Pietism

/ (ˈpaɪɪˌtɪzəm) /


noun
  1. history a reform movement in the German Lutheran Churches during the 17th and 18th centuries that strove to renew the devotional ideal

Derived forms of Pietism

  • Pietist, noun

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