sanctimonious
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sanctimonious
adjective
sanc·ti·mo·nious ˌsaŋ(k)-tə-ˈmō-nē-əs -nyəs
Synonyms of sanctimonious
: hypocritically pious or devout
a sanctimonious moralist
the king's sanctimonious rebuke
—G. B. Shaw
obsolete : possessing sanctity : HOLY
sanctimoniously adverb
sanctimoniousness noun
Did you know?
How Shakespeare Used Sanctimonious
There’s nothing sacred about sanctimonious—at least not anymore. But in the early 1600s, the English
adjective was still sometimes used to describe someone truly holy or pious, a sense at an important
remove from today’s use describing someone who acts or behaves as though they are morally superior
to others. (The now-obsolete “pious” sense recalls the meaning of the word’s Latin parent, sanctimonia,
meaning “holiness” or “sanctity.”) Shakespeare used both the “holy” and “holier-than-thou” senses of
sanctimonious in his work, referring in The Tempest to the “sanctimonious” (that is, “holy”) ceremonies
of marriage, and in Measure for Measure to “the sanctimonious pirate that went to sea with the Ten
Commandments but scraped one out of the table.” (Apparently, the pirate found the restriction on
stealing inconvenient.)
Examples of sanctimonious in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More
But the second half becomes increasingly generic conspiracy stuff, leading to a two-part conclusion
that’s more smug and sanctimonious than the preceding action can justify.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Nov. 2024
The Byzantines wrote an amoral flexibility into their system, despite its putative religiosity—a realistic
approach that has become more difficult to accomplish in the United States, partly owing to the power
of a sanctimonious media establishment.
—Robert D. Kaplan, Foreign Affairs, 4 Oct. 2022
This is the sanctimonious language of social media — the tone and medium Adichie criticized in her 2021
blog post — not of a nuanced social novel.
—Sanjena Sathian, Vulture, 24 Feb. 2025
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.
—B.g. White, Hartford Courant, 18 Feb. 2025
Word History
First Known Use
1603, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of sanctimonious was in 1603
See more words from the same year
Rhymes for sanctimonious
acrimonious
ceremonious
inharmonious
parsimonious
erroneous
felonious
harmonious
peroneus
polonius
unceremonious
Browse Nearby Words
sanctimonial
sanctimonious
sanctimony
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Cite this Entry
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MLA
“Sanctimonious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/sanctimonious. Accessed 28 Apr. 2025.
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Kids Definition
sanctimonious
adjective
sanc·ti·mo·ni·ous ˌsaŋ(k)-tə-ˈmō-nē-əs
: pretending to be devoted
sanctimoniously adverb
sanctimoniousness noun
More from Merriam-Webster on sanctimonious
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for sanctimonious
Nglish: Translation of sanctimonious for Spanish Speakers
Last Updated: 18 Mar 2025 - Updated example sentences
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