saintly
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of saintly
Explanation
If someone is saintly, they're so perfect that they're almost too good to be true. A truly saintly person spends her life helping others. Saintly people are extremely kind and virtuous, modeling themselves after actual saints, people who are canonized by the Catholic church after death and are believed to be in heaven. You can also use this adjective to describe things that have to do with saints, like a saintly painting or a saintly relic. Both saintly and saint are rooted in the Latin sanctus, "holy or consecrated."
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:
No saintly voice told me what to do next.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
With saintly calm, the too-good-for-him Dr. Barrett packs her things and returns to her peaceful castle.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2026
This disciplined capital allocation — returning all free cash flow to shareholders via dividends and buybacks — makes it practically saintly.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2025
That is a category reserved for martyrs, those deemed to have lived a life of heroic values and candidates who the Church declares to have a saintly reputation.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2025
"What do you know, honest Josie-Jo on the Supreme Court. She was a smart kid, too, but she never once beat me at chess. Tell me about the others, Turtle. How's poor, saintly Crow?"
From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin
They care about telling themselves that their profession is saintlier than it is, and they’re superior to the reformed liar who wants to work with them.
From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2014
You will read for yourself, by and by, many others: stories of older Saints, and perhaps of brighter Saints, or it may be even of saintlier Saints than these.
From A Book of Quaker Saints by L. V. (Lucy Violet) Hodgkin
The modern woman of the advanced type refuses to be longer regarded as a gentler and saintlier type of humanity, who must be petted, reverenced, and protected.
From The Scrap Book, Volume 1, No. 5 July 1906 by Various
And he was probably saintlier than they were, because he was their child.
From Recollections and Impressions 1822-1890 by Octavius Brooks Frothingham
Truth is not only stranger than fiction, but often saintlier than fiction.
From The New Jerusalem by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton
Yet, before turning the relic over to the police, Brand said he was on his saintliest behavior.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 21, 2022
Moreover, in all but the saintliest circles, forgiveness may be a luxury that depends upon a certain surrounding stability.
From Time Magazine Archive
My dear, dear Bishop, you are the best-hearted, the saintliest man on earth.
From In the Bishop's Carriage by Miriam Michelson
Best loved and saintliest of our singing train, Earth's noblest tributes to thy name belong.
From Elson Grammar School Literature v4 by William H. Elson
More than thirty years have passed since that University thus publicly preferred a p. 31dog smootherer to one of the noblest of teachers and saintliest of men.
From Great Testimony against scientific cruelty by Stephen Coleridge
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