pious
- 01 C1 Advanced
deeply religious and showing great respect for a god or religion.
exhibiting deep religious devotion and reverence for a deity or faith.
Simple“The pious monk spent most of his day in quiet prayer and study.”
In context“The community respected him as a pious man who dedicated his life to charitable works and religious observance.”
- 02 C2 Proficiency
acting as if you are more moral or better than other people.
making a hypocritical show of religious or moral superiority; sanctimonious.
Simple“I am tired of his pious lectures about how I should live my life.”
In context“Her pious attitude toward the mistakes of others made it difficult for her colleagues to work with her effectively.”
UsageOften used with a negative or critical tone to describe someone's behavior.
Teacher's tipIn modern secular contexts, this sense is more common than the literal religious one and is almost always an insult.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pewH- Proto-Italic *pwījosder. Latin piusbor. English pious Borrowed from Latin pīus (“pious, dutiful, blessed, kind, devout”), from Proto-Indo-European *pewH- (“pure”). Cognate with Old English fǣle (“faithful, trusty, good; dear, beloved”). More at feal.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.