holy
Americanadjective
-
specially recognized as or declared sacred by religious use or authority; consecrated.
holy ground.
- Synonyms:
- blessed
-
dedicated or devoted to the service of God, the church, or religion.
a holy man.
-
saintly; godly; pious; devout.
a holy life.
-
having a spiritually pure quality.
a holy love.
- Synonyms:
- spiritual
-
entitled to worship or veneration as or as if sacred.
a holy relic.
-
holy rites.
-
inspiring fear, awe, or grave distress.
The director, when angry, is a holy terror.
-
(used in certain interjections to express surprise, bewilderment, or wonder, as in holy cow andholy smoke. )
noun
adjective
-
of, relating to, or associated with God or a deity; sacred
-
endowed or invested with extreme purity or sublimity
-
devout, godly, or virtuous
-
offensively sanctimonious or self-righteous
a holier-than-thou attitude
-
-
a difficult or frightening person
-
informal a person who is an active gambler, womanizer, etc
-
noun
Synonym Usage
Holy, sacred, consecrated, hallowed imply possession of a sanctity that is the object of religious veneration. Holy refers to the divine, that which has its sanctity directly from God or is connected with Him: Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Something that is sacred, while sometimes accepted as entitled to religious veneration, may have its sanctity from human authority: a sacred oath. Something that is consecrated is specially or formally dedicated to some religious use: a life consecrated to service. Something that is hallowed has been made holy by being worshiped: a hallowed shrine.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of holy
First recorded before 900; Middle English holi, Old English hālig, variant of hāleg, equivalent to hāl whole + -eg -y 1; cognate with Dutch, German heilig, Old Norse heilagr
Explanation
Something that is sacred can be described as holy, like the Holy Bible. So can anything associated with God, like a holy day that is observed by attending worship ceremonies. The adjective holy comes from the Old English word hālig and is related to the German word heilig, meaning “blessed.” There is a relationship between holy and whole, and the religious sense probably developed from keeping believers spiritually whole — and pure. A place, object, or person who has been blessed can be described as holy, meaning "associated with God."
Vocabulary lists containing holy
Abbey Road
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Eid al-Adha
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
All Saints' Day
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
And yet fans suspend their cynicism for a few hours — for a tournament, for a season — because they know that the communion that soccer offers is pure and holy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Announced last week in a post on Instagram, the drink was described as a “clarified tonic” with coconut water, jasmine tea, raw honey, holy basil, anise hyssop, green cardamom, white grape juice and coconut milk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
Following a marathon procession through the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in neighbouring Iraq on Wednesday, he was to reach his final place of rest in the holy city of Mashhad.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
Sikhs regard it not only as their holy scripture but also as their eternal living Guru.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
The holy woman told Xuthus that the priest wished to speak to him, and when he was gone she held out to Ion what she was carrying.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
No one would call him a minimalist, but his holy of holies is not to allow his productions to eclipse his performers.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2025
Jerusalem was also the site of the holiest of holies of Judaism, the most sacred of spaces where the Temple of Solomon had stood until its destruction by the Romans.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
The country, he said, is facing “an attack on the holy of holies: the security of the State of Israel.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 2, 2023
Saudi Arabia is a powerful regional player, considered a leader of the Sunni faith because of its custodianship of Islam’s holies sites and has close ties to the West.
From New York Times ● Mar. 17, 2023
Though this proviso may sound far-fetched, Wagner’s admirers had indeed begun to see Bayreuth as a very special place, the holiest of holies, well before he embarked on Parsifal.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
“When I do it, I'm trying not to be holier than thou in every way that I can. And I fail at that a fair amount.”
From Salon ● Nov. 4, 2024
For cinephiles, there is no holier pilgrimage than the Cannes Film Festival, which begins today.
From New York Times ● May 15, 2023
It’s easy for strangers to be holier than thou if they haven’t tried to solve the problem themselves.
From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2023
The fact that handfuls of go-go troupes, including Junkyard Band and TOB, as well as punk heroes Fugazi have performed at Pulaski over the years only makes this holy ground that much holier.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 17, 2022
“If God gets even half the promises we’ve been laying down, the U.S.A. is going to be holier than the Vatican,” Monaco said.
From "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers
The procession coincided with the annual commemoration of Imam Hussein, the mourning month of Muharram, the holiest period of the year in Shia Islam.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
The final burial is on Thursday at the sprawling Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, the ayatollah's birthplace and Iran's holiest city.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Despite the heat and war, pilgrims were overcome with emotion as they kickstarted the hajj festivities in Mecca, Islam's holiest city.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
Many Christian leaders, to be fair, were also outraged that the president would stoop so low on the holiest day of the Christian year.
From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2026
He was halfway through the first line of the Shema, our holiest prayer, and my head stopped hurting.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
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.
