Pious

adj

adj ·2 syllables ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or pertaining to piety, exhibiting piety, devout, god-fearing.

    "Old Deacon Smith was quick to see the impression made by Abby Howard upon the mind of his son, and he was wonderfully pleased thereat, for Abby was the oldest daughter of the good Deacon Howard, and was herself a church member, and pious. He had more hope for his son now, than he had felt for years."

  2. 2
    Relating to religion or religious works.

    "A pious cause."

  3. 3
    Insisting on or making a show of one's own virtue, especially in comparison to others; sanctimonious, condescending, judgmental.
Adjective
  1. 1
    having or showing or expressing reverence for a deity wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
devoutprayerfulreligiousreverentworshipfuladoring

Example

More examples

"So characteristic of what a pious Christian would say, this courteous phrase."

Etymology

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.

Related phrases

offensive to pious earspious fictionpious fraud

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.