Pietism

[ pahy-i-tiz-uhm ]

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.
3. (lowercase) intensity of religious devotion or feeling.
4. (lowercase) exaggeration or affectation of piety.

   Synonyms: sanctimony

Pietism

¹

/ 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

pietism

²

/ ˈpaɪɪˌtɪzəm /

noun

1. a less common word for piety
2. excessive, exaggerated, or affected piety or saintliness

Derived Forms

• ˈPietist, noun
• ˌpieˈtistic, adjective
• ˈpietist, noun

Other Words From

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Pietism¹

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

Example Sentences

With the same charms as Mademoiselle de Voss, she had the same jumble of pietism and virtue.

From Project Gutenberg

Brought up in an atmosphere of pietism, the natural reaction led him into a kind of romantic atheistic unbelief.

From Project Gutenberg

Pietism and sentimentalism have supplanted in a large measure the ethical.

From Project Gutenberg

The severe pietism of that belief had never strongly appealed to him.

From Project Gutenberg

As to religion, Sainte-Beuve, having had his phase of pietism even, ended by becoming a blank unbeliever.

From Project Gutenberg