devout
Americanadjective
-
devoted to divine worship or service; pious; religious.
a devout Catholic.
- Antonyms:
- irreverent
-
expressing devotion or piety.
devout prayer.
-
earnest or sincere; hearty.
He had a devout allegiance to the political regime.
adjective
-
deeply religious; reverent
-
sincere; earnest; heartfelt
a devout confession
Synonym Usage
See religious.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of devout
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French devo(u)t, from Late Latin dēvotus, Latin: “devoted”; see devote
Explanation
To be devout is to be deeply devoted to one's religion or to another belief, cause, or way of life. If you're reading this, you're probably a devout believer in improving your vocabulary. Devout is often used to describe religious individuals, but this word also pops up in the context of sports fans — a fact that may shed some light on the role of sports in today's society. However, while it's usually acceptable for a devout individual to miss work for religious holidays, devout sports fans have a tougher time convincing their boss to let them off for the big game.
Vocabulary lists containing devout
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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.
See Examples For:
These dozen or so new worshippers - clustered around a band called Present Tense - were devout but disillusioned with traditional Anglican worship.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
A devout Baptist, Evans, who lived and worked in Wilmington, N.C., began making art in the 1930s, after her grandmother’s death.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Even when the devout Christian decided to retire, he found a way to be of public service.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
"The 1851 memoir, by contrast, was a spiritual redemption story, with Byfield tracing his progress from rebellious sinner to devout and repentant Christian."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026
So many of the engineers were Northerners, relatively agnostic on the racial issue but devout when it came to mathematical talent.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
The devouter portion of the people still pray, and on the whole, live sober, righteous and godly lives; but multitudes are discouraged, and take themselves away.
From Modern Skepticism: A Journey Through the Land of Doubt and Back Again A Life Story by Joseph Barker
The stronger and devouter soul cannot conceive how the weaker had yielded.
From Expositions of Holy Scripture by Alexander Maclaren
He finds them the same men, although with better and devouter hearts, as we are at this day.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 01, No. 02, December, 1857 by Various
But I have no devouter superstition than that the souls of women who die in childbed and men who fall in battle go straight to Paradise!!!
From Juliana Horatia Ewing And Her Books by Horatia K. F. Eden
Mrs. Orr, devouter votary than I, explains that Browning meant "that everything which disturbs the equal balance of human life gives a vital impulse to the soul."
From Browning's Heroines by Maxwell Armfield
Everywhere the devoutest Jews were conscious of wants which the national faith did not meet.
From The World's Great Sermons, Volume 10 Drummond to Jowett, and General Index by Grenville Kleiser
And so it has been with thousands and thousands more of the devoutest and sincerest souls.
From Love's Final Victory by Horatio
In 1615 was born Richard Baxter, one of the purest and wisest and devoutest of men—and no mean poet either.
From England's Antiphon by George MacDonald
Mrs. Abigail protested that her Lady was one of the devoutest, sweetest and handsomest creatures in the world; but observed, since she had been obliged to leave Castle-Bellingham, she was grown very nervous.
From The Loyalists, Vol. 1-3 An Historical Novel by Jane West
The devoutest person could have rendered no greater homage to the efficacy of an honest prayer than he did in this distrust of his wife.
From A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
