holier-than-thou

[hoh-lee-er-th uh n-th ou]

adjective

noun

Origin of holier-than-thou

First recorded in 1910–15

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Herman likes to give the appearance of living this holier-than-thou life.
Herman Cain's Marriage Shaken by Infidelity Charges
Allison Samuels
December 2, 2011
Unfortunately for Edwards, the holier-than-thou approach won her few fans.
The Year in Talk: 2009's 19 Most Pivotal Moments
The Daily Beast Video
December 24, 2009

I've watched the lot of you Cavendishes, with yer stuck-up 'holier-than-thou' ways.
The Lone Ranger Rides
Fran Striker
But I don't want you to think you can get away with any holier-than-thou stuff.
Babbitt
Sinclair Lewis
There's going to be one house in this scandal-mongering town to-night that isn't going to spring the holier-than-thou.
Babbitt
Sinclair Lewis
To one who goes to Spain in the holier-than-thou attitude, she is dumb and repellent,—she who can be so eloquent!
Heroic Spain
Elizabeth Boyle O'Reilly
Happily the generations of cant and holier-than-thou are passing, and we are looking history more honestly in the face.
Heroic Spain
Elizabeth Boyle O'Reilly

as an adjectival phrase in reference to supercilious sanctimony attested by 1888, American English. The text is in Isaiah lxv:5.