pious
[pahy-uh s]
- having or showing a dutiful spirit of reverence for God or an earnest wish to fulfill religious obligations.
- characterized by a hypocritical concern with virtue or religious devotion; sanctimonious.
- practiced or used in the name of real or pretended religious motives, or for some ostensibly good object; falsely earnest or sincere: a pious deception.
- of or relating to religious devotion; sacred rather than secular: pious literature.
- having or showing appropriate respect or regard for parents or others.
Show More
Origin of pious
1595–1605; < Latin pius, akin to piāre to propitiate
Synonyms
See more synonyms for pious on Thesaurus.com1. devout, godly, reverent. See religious.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for pious
Contemporary Examples
Yet for a pious Muslim believer, the experience of those states was bad to the point of being catastrophic.
There was lot of promiscuity in my family, but everyone was pretending that they were pious and perfect.
And then, using the language of the pious against them, he declares, “We know that God is on our side.”
How can the pious candidate pivot when polls show voters shifting away from religion?
But there's more to public touchiness over last week's sketch than just pious indignation.
Historical Examples
Let pious women, especially, take a lesson from this incident.
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. IIFrancis Augustus Cox
She was driven from a pious family; but she had no home, no friend, no helper!
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. IFrancis Augustus Cox
And then came the pious climax of Coronation, America, and the Doxology.
Meadow GrassAlice Brown
The lady raised her eyes in a pious manner, and answered 'Yes.'
Life And Adventures Of Martin ChuzzlewitCharles Dickens
The latter, it was said, had remained at Lourdes in service with a pious lady.
The Three Cities Trilogy, CompleteEmile Zola
pious
- having or expressing reverence for a god or gods; religious; devout
- marked by reverence
- marked by false reverence; sanctimonious
- sacred; not secular
- archaic having or expressing devotion for one's parents or others
Show More
Word Origin
C17: from Latin pius, related to piāre to expiate
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
Word Origin and History for pious
adj.
mid-15c., from Latin pius "dutiful, devout, conscientious, religious; faithful to kindred; inspired by friendship, prompted by natural affections," perhaps [Klein] related to Latin purus "pure, clean" (see pure). Often coupled with fraud (n.) from at least 1630s. Related: Piously; piousness.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper