sanctimonious

WOTD - 4 February 2010    

English

Etymology

sanctimony +‎ -ous

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˌsæŋk.tɪˈməʊ.ni.əs/, /ˌsæŋk.təˈməʊ.ni.əs/
• (US) IPA: /ˌsæŋk.tɪˈmoʊ.ni.əs/, /ˌsæŋk.təˈmoʊ.ni.əs/

Adjective

sanctimonious (comparative more sanctimonious, superlative most sanctimonious)

1. Making a show of being morally better than others, especially hypocritically pious.
2. (archaic) Holy, devout.

Derived terms

• sanctimoniously
• sanctimoniousness
• sanctimony

Translations

making a show of being morally better than others, especially hypocritically

Dutch: schijnheilig (nl) Finnish: tekopyhä (fi), pyhimysmäinen (fi), hurskasteleva (fi), (colloquial) jeesusteleva (fi) French: hypocrite (fr), faux dévot (fr), tartuffe (fr), bigot (fr), confit en dévotion (fr) German: frömmelnd, scheinheilig (de)

Italian: tartufo (it) Norwegian Bokmål: skinnhellig Norwegian Nynorsk: skinheilag (nn) Russian: ханжеский (ru) Scottish Gaelic: cràbhach (gd) Spanish: mojigato (es), tartufo (es)

holy, devout