hagiography

[ hag-ee-og-ruh-fee, hey-jee- ]

/ ˌhæg iˈɒg rə fi, ˌheɪ dʒi- /

noun, plural hag·i·og·ra·phies.

the writing and critical study of the lives of the saints; hagiology.

Nearby words

hagio-, hagiocracy, hagiographa, hagiographer, hagiographic, hagiography, hagiolatry, hagiology, hagioscope, hagler, hagridden

Origin of hagiography

First recorded in 1805–15; hagio- + -graphy

Related forms

hag·i·o·graph·ic

[hag-ee-uh-graf-ik, hey-jee-] /ˌhæg i əˈgræf ɪk, ˌheɪ dʒi-/, hag·i·o·graph·i·cal, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hagiography

She wants a “hagiography,” and the conflicts and confusions that ensue provide The Last Word with its comic momentum.
A Novel About a Novelist ‘Like’ Naipaul|Edward Platt|November 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One has to be careful not to descend into a mess of hagiography.
David Foster Wallace, Traditionalist? Considering ‘Both Flesh and Not: Essays’|David Masciotra|November 2, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Blogger Jonathan Tobin commemorated the event with a burst of hagiography.
Scooped|Peter Beinart|June 1, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Called, aptly, Sergio, the film teeters on the brink of hagiography.
The Life and Death of a U.N. Hero|Tunku Varadarajan|May 6, 2010|DAILY BEAST

The book is a counterpunch to the volumes of Oprah hagiography the publishing business has churned out over the years.
Oprah's Kremlinologist|Rebecca Dana|November 20, 2009|DAILY BEAST
The second version, though LB calls it miraculum insolitum, is one of the commonplaces of hagiography.
The Latin & Irish Lives of Ciaran|Anonymous
But the great and absorbing subject of poetry in this age is Hagiography.
Anglo-Saxon Literature|John Earle
To him the problems of archaeology, history, and hagiography are impertinent.
Art|Clive Bell
Space would now fail us to trace the development of hagiography in the Church.
The Contemporary Review, January 1883|Various
Hagiography was now a lost branch of art, as completely lost as wood carving, and the miniatures of the old missals.
En Route|J.-K. (Joris-Karl) Huysmans

British Dictionary definitions for hagiography

hagiography

/ (ˌhæɡɪˈɒɡrəfɪ) /

noun plural -phies

the writing of the lives of the saints

biography of the saints

any biography that idealizes or idolizes its subject

Derived Forms

hagiographic (ˌhæɡɪəˈɡræfɪk) or hagiographical, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012