as in pious
disapproving
having or showing a strong belief that your own actions, opinions, etc., are right and other people's are wrong
a self-righteous tone It's OK to criticize, but don't get self-righteous about it.
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of self-righteous
First up is Denzel Washington as a self-righteous former slave whose revenge plans include matching the beastliness of his captors slash for gash, and those depraved co-emperors Fred Hechinger and Joseph Quinn, whose Kardashian brothers zeal for squeals steals the Colosseum show.
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Steven Gaydos, Variety, 16 Dec. 2024
But recent years have marked a subtle shift from self-righteous battles over reputation to less principled conflicts over branding control, like when Kanye West disowned his participation in Coodie & Chike’s 2022 documentary Jeen-Yuhs because he was denied final cut.
—Mosi Reeves, Rolling Stone, 27 Nov. 2024
His parents, one a co-leader in the 1980s of South Central’s Black-Korean Coalition, the other a union organizer, push back on his self-righteous idealism.
—Ruth Madievsky, The Atlantic, 20 Nov. 2024
Dillahunt will play modern cowboy William Macon, a self-righteous, conspiracy-minded man who masks his ruthless ambition behind a charming and calculated facade.
—Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 1 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for self-righteous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-righteous
Adjective
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Advertisement Nazanin goes through the same preparations as Salme, who has turned supremely pious in the intervening years, and Zari, who has grown more level-headed, not to say jaded.—
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If some punters were irritatingly pious, many also had the time of their life.—
Adjective
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My point is simply that these perspectives have been so abused in America that God has become a sanctimonious prop that has more to do with a person’s politics than with any authentic spiritual insight.—
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Each is open-minded and empathetic, though neither is sanctimonious about those qualities.—
Adjective
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Out of all the ugly and dishonest things that Donald Trump said about Volodymyr Zelensky last week, the ugliest was not dishonest at all.—
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But the contestant also feels that some of those accusing her of dishonest gameplay need only look in the mirror.—
Adjective
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Cigarettes were first popularized in a more moralistic era.—
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How Polarizing Messaging Hurt DEI DEI often positioned itself as a solution to deep social problems, but its prescriptive and moralistic tone alienated some employees and customers.—
Adjective
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The consequences are often deeply personal: sleepless nights, strained relationships and a constant sense of unease about who’s watching.—
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The Sea Lions should get deeper before the playoffs with the return of 6-8 senior forward Wynton Brown, who has missed most of the past two weeks with a strained elbow ligament.—
Adjective
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His estranged daughter Alexandra (Lizzy Caplan), a Congresswoman whose superficial resemblance to a real-life New York City politician with nearly the same name isn’t the least bit coincidental, is never around.—
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These meaningful relationships can open doors, provide support and inspire growth in ways that superficial connections simply can’t match.—
Adjective
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The Russian invasion of Ukraine won Vladimir Putin a certain admiration in countries of the global South, as well as among MAGA Americans, while Joe Biden’s appeals to democratic values seemed pallid and hypocritical.—
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But the weekly shows cut much deeper by undermining trust in the process and repeatedly placing the committee chair in position to look hypocritical from one week to the next.—
Adjective
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These areas included barracks for guards, factories for forced labor, and agricultural sites meant to sustain the camp’s population and the Nazi war effort.—
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After 471 days in forced captivity, the idea that a hostage would receive a gift bag is undoubtedly bizarre.—
Cite this Entry
“Self-righteous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-righteous. Accessed 27 Feb. 2025.
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