sanctimonious
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Etymology tree
From sanctimony + -ous.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (UK) IPA(key): /ˌsæŋk.tɪˈməʊ.ni.əs/, /ˌsæŋk.təˈməʊ.ni.əs/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˌsæŋk.tɪˈmoʊ.ni.əs/, /ˌsæŋk.təˈmoʊ.ni.əs/
Audio (General Australian): (file) Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -əʊniəs
Adjective
[edit]sanctimonious (comparative more sanctimonious, superlative most sanctimonious)
- Making a show of being morally better than others, especially hypocritically pious.
- Synonym: holier-than-thou
- Near-synonyms: smug; see also Thesaurus:arrogant
- c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
- Thou conclud'st like the sanctimonious pirate, that went to sea with the Ten Commandements, but scrap'd one out of the table.
- 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Prologue”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 6:
- [O]ne / Discuss'd his tutor, rough to common men / But honeying at the whisper of a lord; / And one the Master, as a rogue in grain / Veneer'd with sanctimonious theory.
- 2007, Alan Farrell, High Cheekbones, Pouty Lips, Tight Jeans, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 77:
- It'd be easy to write off Michael Moore as a fat, scruffy, sanctimonious Bolchevik poseur (actually, I do write off Michael Moore as a fat, scruffy, sanctimonious Bolchevik poseur) but the fact is that there's about five minutes of cleverness in this […]
- 2013, Ronald F. Marshall, Kierkegaard for the Church: Essays and Sermons, Wipf and Stock Publishers, →ISBN, page 333:
- And this is indeed needed, since we who consider these awkward Christian ideas are but fearful, sanctimonious people, as Kierkegaard once put it so passionately: O, you sanctimonious people with your love which does not set you apart […]
- (archaic) Holy, devout.
- Synonyms: godly, pious; blessed, sacred; see also Thesaurus:devout, Thesaurus:holy
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]making a show of being morally better than others, especially hypocritically
Categories:
- English terms suffixed with -ous
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₃ed- (smell)
- English 5-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/əʊniəs
- Rhymes:English/əʊniəs/5 syllables
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with archaic senses