self-righteous
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of self-righteous
First recorded in 1670–80
Explanation
A self-righteous person thinks their beliefs and morals are better than everyone else's. If you're quite sure the charity of others pales in comparison with yours, you might be self-righteous. Join the Old English words self, meaning "one's own person," and rightwise, meaning "virtuous," and you've got somebody who thinks very highly of their own morality. A self-righteous person thinks they can do no wrong, and goes about with a "holier-than-thou" attitude, judging and scrutinizing everyone else. A fur designer may view PETA activists as self-righteous when they picket his fashion show. You may consider a friend self-righteous when it comes to musical taste.
Vocabulary lists containing self-righteous
The Great Gilly Hopkins
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Divergent
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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.
For TV producers, it's long been tempting to invite two self-righteous zealots into a studio to bellow at each other.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026
But the intensity of our rage can easily come across as self-righteous.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026
I could feel their disgust and their self-righteous cancellation in every one of the innumerable wounds I already had.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 17, 2025
MacGruber starts the sketch self-righteous, noting that the “rich and powerful have lived by a different set of rules than the rest of us.”
From Salon ● Nov. 16, 2025
Already he felt almost self-righteous about his new life because it was going to be Down to Earth, Humble, Unpretentious, Real.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
