Hagiography
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 The study of saints and the documentation of their lives. uncountable
"The second half of the eleventh century saw a notable surge of interest in hagiography throughout England, which meant that many of the Anglo-Saxon saints of earlier eras were furnished, often for the first time, with a Latin Vita."
- 2 a biography that idealizes or idolizes the person (especially a person who is a saint) wordnet
- 3 A biography of a saint. countable
- 4 A biography which expresses reverence and respect for its subject. broadly, countable
"Churchill revisionism, of course, is almost as much of a cottage industry as Churchill hagiography."
- 5 A biography which is uncritically supportive of its subject, often including embellishments or propaganda. countable, derogatory, uncountable
"For an obsequious hagiography of [William] Byrd, see L. Wright 1940. For a more critical assessment, see Lockridge 1987, 1992."
Example
More examples"The second half of the eleventh century saw a notable surge of interest in hagiography throughout England, which meant that many of the Anglo-Saxon saints of earlier eras were furnished, often for the first time, with a Latin Vita."
Etymology
From hagio- + -graphy.
Related phrases
More for "hagiography"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.