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:
Fortunately, she has the saintly Monica as her guide.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 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
The Independent notes that he was seen as a "saintly" and "ecclesiastical" figure on Fleet Street.
From BBC ● Dec. 1, 2025
“The way her hijab haloed Nour’s head” gives her a saintly presence, “or so Jimmy thought.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
This Mr. Dreher has already been a great nuisance to Father, and I’ve always admired the saintly patience with which he handled this pathetic old man on the phone.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
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
Yea, verily am I! a follower of the saintly Ludovick Muggleton, and of the saintlier John Reeve, of whom Ludovick is but the mouthpiece, even as Aaron was of Moses.
From Prisoners of Hope A Tale of Colonial Virginia by Johnston, Mary
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 Hodgkin, L. V. (Lucy Violet)
He doesn't mind making people unhappy, because the more they're repressed, the saintlier they'll be.
From Saint's Progress by Galsworthy, John
Or higher, holier, saintlier when, as now, All nature sacerdotal seems, and thou.
From Poems by Thompson, Francis
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
We live poorly enough at the best, even the saintliest of us, and many of us certainly make sad work of our life.
From Making the Most of Life by Miller, J. R. (James Russell)
Geordie responded with much modesty and misgiving, for he was the saintliest man amongst us; and his own estimate of himself was in direct antagonism to our own.
From St. Cuthbert's by Knowles, Robert E.
That woman was the saintliest thing that ever breathed.
From The Crux by Gilman, Charlotte Perkins
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.
