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
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piouslyadverb
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piousnessnoun
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prepiousadjective
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prepiouslyadverb
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pseudopiousadjective
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pseudopiouslyadverb
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quasi-piousadjective
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quasi-piouslyadverb
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semipiousadjective
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semipiouslyadverb
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semipiousnessnoun
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superpiousadjective
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superpiouslyadverb
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superpiousnessnoun
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unpiousadjective
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unpiouslyadverb
Etymology
Origin of pious
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin pius, akin to piāre “to propitiate”
Explanation
If someone is deeply religious and visibly follows all the moral and ethical codes of his religion, he is pious. Don't become a priest if you're not prepared to live a pious life. Pious comes from the Latin pius, which means dutiful. It doesn't always have to be used to talk about organized religion. If someone believes deeply in something, and lets everyone see it through their behavior, then they are pious, whether they're pious Christians or pious environmentalists. It differs from its synonym devout, which implies deep religious sentiment, whereas pious emphasizes the public display of feeling.
Vocabulary lists containing pious
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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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.
Pious Muslims came in the 1920s, leaving Iran as the shah secularized the nation, including banning the headscarf.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026
Mahmoud Al-Quishawi of the US-based charity Pious Projects of America was standing close to the boiling pots of beans where Mohammed received food for his family.
From BBC • Feb. 25, 2024
Similar emails from the same sender have gone to other people of color — including Portland, Maine, city councilors Victoria Pelletier and Pious Ali, who recently ran for mayor.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 29, 2024
Mahmoud al-Qishawi, with the American charity Pious Projects that runs the kitchen, said there’s no fuel to cook with, so they have to search around the neighborhood for wood to burn.
From Washington Times • Dec. 21, 2023
Pious Louis leaned across the table, until his hair swung back and forth across his cheeks.
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.
