holy
Americanadjective
-
holier,
comparative
-
holiest
superlative
-
specially recognized as or declared sacred by religious use or authority; consecrated.
holy ground.
- Synonyms:
- blessed
-
dedicated or devoted to the service of God, the church, or religion.
a holy man.
-
saintly; godly; pious; devout.
a holy life.
-
having a spiritually pure quality.
a holy love.
- Synonyms:
- spiritual
-
entitled to worship or veneration as or as if sacred.
a holy relic.
-
holy rites.
-
inspiring fear, awe, or grave distress.
The director, when angry, is a holy terror.
-
(used in certain interjections to express surprise, bewilderment, or wonder, as in holy cow andholy smoke. )
noun
-
holies
plural
adjective
-
of, relating to, or associated with God or a deity; sacred
-
endowed or invested with extreme purity or sublimity
-
devout, godly, or virtuous
-
offensively sanctimonious or self-righteous
a holier-than-thou attitude
-
-
a difficult or frightening person
-
informal a person who is an active gambler, womanizer, etc
-
noun
Synonym Usage
Holy, sacred, consecrated, hallowed imply possession of a sanctity that is the object of religious veneration. Holy refers to the divine, that which has its sanctity directly from God or is connected with Him: Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Something that is sacred, while sometimes accepted as entitled to religious veneration, may have its sanctity from human authority: a sacred oath. Something that is consecrated is specially or formally dedicated to some religious use: a life consecrated to service. Something that is hallowed has been made holy by being worshiped: a hallowed shrine.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of holy
First recorded before 900; Middle English holi, Old English hālig, variant of hāleg, equivalent to hāl whole + -eg -y 1; cognate with Dutch, German heilig, Old Norse heilagr
Explanation
Something that is sacred can be described as holy, like the Holy Bible. So can anything associated with God, like a holy day that is observed by attending worship ceremonies. The adjective holy comes from the Old English word hālig and is related to the German word heilig, meaning “blessed.” There is a relationship between holy and whole, and the religious sense probably developed from keeping believers spiritually whole — and pure. A place, object, or person who has been blessed can be described as holy, meaning "associated with God."
Vocabulary lists containing holy
Abbey Road
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Eid al-Adha
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All Saints' Day
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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:
A surprisingly low interest rate is the holy grail, and they know it.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026
The Parisians have been France's most dominant force since the arrival of Qatar Sports Investments 15 years ago, but it took a change of approach for the holy grail of continental success to arrive.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
The Houthis had previously warned “all international airlines using Saudi airspace” to halt their flights, except those over the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
On Thursday, a senior Houthi official again rejected accusations that the movement had targeted Islamic holy sites, according to Houthi media.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
Hell, I knew, was a hot place, so heaven must be like this cold, dank, holy building, where smoke rose like incense from the footwarmers of the paying customers.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
No one would call him a minimalist, but his holy of holies is not to allow his productions to eclipse his performers.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2025
But the holiest of holies were the works of Judy Blume, who taught us that people with seemingly enviable lives had problems of their own.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 25, 2023
Jerusalem was also the site of the holiest of holies of Judaism, the most sacred of spaces where the Temple of Solomon had stood until its destruction by the Romans.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
The holy of holies makes a return to Broadway, this time in the person of Sean Hayes.
From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2016
Though this proviso may sound far-fetched, Wagner’s admirers had indeed begun to see Bayreuth as a very special place, the holiest of holies, well before he embarked on Parsifal.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
“Rich people can get a private beach and others can’t…I don’t pretend to be holier than anybody, I just do have these feelings.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
“When I do it, I'm trying not to be holier than thou in every way that I can. And I fail at that a fair amount.”
From Salon ● Nov. 4, 2024
Muir was devastated by its destruction, lamenting, “Dam the Hetch Hetchy! As well dam for water tanks the people’s cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has been consecrated by the heart of man.”
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2024
For cinephiles, there is no holier pilgrimage than the Cannes Film Festival, which begins today.
From New York Times ● May 15, 2023
“If God gets even half the promises we’ve been laying down, the U.S.A. is going to be holier than the Vatican,” Monaco said.
From "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers
Medina, the burial place of the Prophet Mohammed and home to the Prophet's Mosque, is one of Islam's holiest cities alongside Mecca.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
The 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation said attacks on Mecca and Medina province, where Islam's second holiest shrine is located, constituted an "unacceptable and intolerable transgression".
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
They are forbidden from contact with relatives and friends in Israel, and can’t visit the country, home to Judaism’s holiest sites.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said recognition by Saudi Arabia, a regional power and home to Islam's holiest sites, would mark a "historic leap" forward for peace in the Middle East.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
He was halfway through the first line of the Shema, our holiest prayer, and my head stopped hurting.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
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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.
