pious
Americanadjective
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having or showing a dutiful spirit of reverence for God or an earnest wish to fulfill religious obligations.
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characterized by a hypocritical concern with virtue or religious devotion; sanctimonious.
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practiced or used in the name of real or pretended religious motives, or for some ostensibly good object; falsely earnest or sincere.
a pious deception.
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of or relating to religious devotion; sacred rather than secular.
pious literature.
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having or showing appropriate respect or regard for parents or others.
adjective
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having or expressing reverence for a god or gods; religious; devout
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marked by reverence
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marked by false reverence; sanctimonious
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sacred; not secular
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archaic having or expressing devotion for one's parents or others
Related Words
See religious.
Other Word Forms
- piously adverb
- piousness noun
- prepious adjective
- prepiously adverb
- pseudopious adjective
- pseudopiously adverb
- quasi-pious adjective
- quasi-piously adverb
- semipious adjective
- semipiously adverb
- semipiousness noun
- superpious adjective
- superpiously adverb
- superpiousness noun
- unpious adjective
- unpiously adverb
Etymology
Origin of pious
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin pius, akin to piāre “to propitiate”
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.
On being asked by a pious official if he really knew God’s judgment, he is said to have responded, “He will not refuse one who is so blithe to go to him.”
Her Catholic parents were wealthy and pious, and demanded high standards of their children.
From BBC
At the risk of sounding more pious than I am: When every game, every half, every quarter and even every shot is attached to gambling odds, good old-fashioned storytelling gets choked out.
From Los Angeles Times
In Mumbai, the Jain community, which considers feeding pigeons a pious duty, has been vocal in their protests.
From BBC
Moyers’ preacher-like delivery and emphasis on high moral standards in his commentaries led some people to criticize him as being a pious scold.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
