pious

[ pahy-uhs ]

adjective

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

   Synonyms: reverent, godly, devout

2. characterized by a hypocritical concern with virtue or religious devotion; sanctimonious.
3. 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.

4. of or relating to religious devotion; sacred rather than secular:

   pious literature.

5. having or showing appropriate respect or regard for parents or others.

pious

/ ˈpaɪəs /

adjective

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

Derived Forms

• ˈpiously, adverb
• ˈpiousness, noun

Other Words From

• pious·ly adverb
• pious·ness noun
• pre·pious adjective
• pre·pious·ly adverb
• pseudo·pious adjective
• pseudo·pious·ly adverb
• quasi-pious adjective
• quasi-pious·ly adverb
• semi·pious adjective
• semi·pious·ly adverb
• semi·pious·ness noun
• super·pious adjective
• super·pious·ly adverb
• super·pious·ness noun
• un·pious adjective
• un·pious·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of pious¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of pious¹

C17: from Latin pius, related to piāre to expiate

Synonym Study

See religious.

Example Sentences

Instrumental in feminizing the occupation, Beecher argued that pious young women should be the ones to do the moral work of teaching — in no small part because they provided cheap labor.

From Los Angeles Times

We understood that conservative racism often hides behind pious professions of color-blindness and pretensions that the only "color" that should matter is dollar green.

From Salon

So while the pugnaciousness of Spirit can feel anti-customer, there’s also something pious in the bad blood it’s willing to endure.

From Slate

Absent the American people suddenly waking up and refusing to elect dangerous crackpots to Congress, Brands’ pious wish for congressional reassertion of power is a non-starter.

From Salon

Over the course of a whopping 11 seasons, the pious Camden clan dealt with everything from spray paint huffing, alcoholism, gangs, caffeine addiction, bulimia, hickies, homelessness and, in one particularly memorable episode, the matriarch’s devastating admission that she had once smoked marijuana.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• born-again
• devout
• righteous
• saintly
• sanctimonious