Synonyms

pious

American

[pahy-uhs] / ˈpaɪ əs /

adjective

having or showing a dutiful spirit of reverence for God or an earnest wish to fulfill religious obligations.

Synonyms:

reverent, godly, devout
characterized by a hypocritical concern with virtue or religious devotion; sanctimonious.
practiced or used in the name of real or pretended religious motives, or for some ostensibly good object; falsely earnest or sincere.

a pious deception.
of or relating to religious devotion; sacred rather than secular.

pious literature.
having or showing appropriate respect or regard for parents or others.

pious British

/ ˈpaɪəs /

adjective

having or expressing reverence for a god or gods; religious; devout
marked by reverence
marked by false reverence; sanctimonious
sacred; not secular
archaic having or expressing devotion for one's parents or others

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

See religious.

Other Word Forms

piously adverb
piousness noun
prepious adjective
prepiously adverb
pseudopious adjective
pseudopiously adverb
quasi-pious adjective
quasi-piously adverb
semipious adjective
semipiously adverb
semipiousness noun
superpious adjective
superpiously adverb
superpiousness noun
unpious adjective
unpiously adverb

Etymology

Origin of pious

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin pius, akin to piāre “to propitiate”

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023