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.
There were some obnoxious, self righteous people there — after all, every protest has them.
From Salon • Jun. 12, 2025
Magistrate Amy Chan said she had been "self righteous" in "completely disregarding the law to think that the freedom of assembly was more important than public health".
From BBC • Dec. 14, 2022
I’m not so self righteous that I’ll reject the presence of a man who has not been convicted, much less charged of any crime.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2022
The standard phrase for the sort of behaviors described used to be "holier than thou" - too self righteous and self important to pay...
From New York Times • Aug. 8, 2017
Besides, I feel as Teresa does that it is stupid and self righteous of us to continue to refuse to have anything to do with the Boy Scouts simply because they once offended us.
From The Girl Scouts in Beechwood Forest by Vandercook, Margaret
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.
