Pharisaism
Americannoun
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the principles and practices of the Pharisees.
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(lowercase) rigid observance of external forms of religion or conduct without genuine piety; hypocrisy.
noun
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Judaism the tenets and customs of the Pharisees
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(often not capital) observance of the external forms of religion without genuine belief; hypocrisy
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Pharisaism
From the New Latin word Pharisaismus, dating back to 1595–1605. See Pharisaic, -ism
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.
His smirking and somewhat subversive accommodation to this Pharisaism is to emphasize the ways in which Black English is more complex than Standard English.
From The New Yorker ● May 8, 2017
Emphasis on visible authority and external practices had brought the Roman Catholic Church, they thought, to Pharisaism and travesty; they hoped to avoid the same pitfall by stressing an inward spirituality.
From Time Magazine Archive
He accused them stoutly of wilful blindness, of cowardice, of bullying, of Pharisaism, and of other sins.
From Clayhanger by Bennett, Arnold
The terrible anathemas of Jesus against Pharisaism had not yet been written, and the accounts of the words of the Master were neither general nor uniform.
From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 03 by Horne, Charles F. (Charles Francis)
The honest, ignorant men who were working so earnestly, fancied it connected with Pharisaism, and had little idea that the Brahmin philosophy was as hard to deal with as the Greek.
From Pioneers and Founders or, Recent Workers in the Mission field by Yonge, Charlotte Mary
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.
