pious
Americanadjective
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having or showing a dutiful spirit of reverence for God or an earnest wish to fulfill religious obligations.
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characterized by a hypocritical concern with virtue or religious devotion; sanctimonious.
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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.
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of or relating to religious devotion; sacred rather than secular.
pious literature.
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having or showing appropriate respect or regard for parents or others.
adjective
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having or expressing reverence for a god or gods; religious; devout
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marked by reverence
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marked by false reverence; sanctimonious
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sacred; not secular
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archaic having or expressing devotion for one's parents or others
Synonym Usage
See religious.
Other Word Forms
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piousnessnoun
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semipiousnessnoun
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superpiousnessnoun
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prepiousadjective
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pseudopiousadjective
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quasi-piousadjective
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semipiousadjective
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superpiousadjective
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unpiousadjective
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piouslyadverb
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prepiouslyadverb
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pseudopiouslyadverb
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quasi-piouslyadverb
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semipiouslyadverb
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superpiouslyadverb
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unpiouslyadverb
Etymology
Origin of pious
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin pius, akin to piāre “to propitiate”
Explanation
If someone is deeply religious and visibly follows all the moral and ethical codes of his religion, he is pious. Don't become a priest if you're not prepared to live a pious life. Pious comes from the Latin pius, which means dutiful. It doesn't always have to be used to talk about organized religion. If someone believes deeply in something, and lets everyone see it through their behavior, then they are pious, whether they're pious Christians or pious environmentalists. It differs from its synonym devout, which implies deep religious sentiment, whereas pious emphasizes the public display of feeling.
Vocabulary lists containing pious
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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.
The sun was eclipsed, horses were spooked and the pious dropped to their knees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
If that sounds pious for a politician, Mr. Sasse doesn’t mean it to be.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
Erdogan, a devout Muslim and graduate of a clerical school, has previously said he aims to raise a "pious generation".
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
At the risk of sounding more pious than I am: When every game, every half, every quarter and even every shot is attached to gambling odds, good old-fashioned storytelling gets choked out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 29, 2025
She never laughed but often smiled the thin smile of the pious.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
