Self-righteousness

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Confidence in one's own righteousness, self-assurance, smug.

    "The book of Job warns us against self-righteousness, since no man can justify himself to God."

Synonyms

All synonyms
affectationcantfalse pietyfalsenessgoody-goodinesshypocrisy

Example

More examples

"Her desire for self-righteousness overwhelms the rest of her personality."

Etymology

From self-righteous + -ness or self- + righteousness.

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