sanctimonious

sanctimony +‎ -ous

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌsæŋk.tɪˈməʊ.ni.əs/, /ˌsæŋk.təˈməʊ.ni.əs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌsæŋk.tɪˈmoʊ.ni.əs/, /ˌsæŋk.təˈmoʊ.ni.əs/

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sanctimonious (comparative more sanctimonious, superlative most sanctimonious)

1. Making a show of being morally better than others, especially hypocritically pious.
   • 1623, William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act I, scene ii:

     Thou conclud'st like the sanctimonious pirate, that went to sea with the Ten Commandements, but scrap'd one out of the table.

   • 1847, Alfred Tennyson, The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], OCLC 2024748, prologue, page 6:

     [O]ne / Discuss'd his tutor, rough to common men / But honeying at the whisper of a lord; / And one the Master, as a rogue in grain / Veneer'd with sanctimonious theory.

   • 2007, Alan Farrell, High Cheekbones, Pouty Lips, Tight Jeans, Lulu.com (→ISBN), page 77:

     It'd be easy to write off Michael Moore as a fat, scruffy, sanctimonious Bolchevik poseur (actually, I do write off Michael Moore as a fat, scruffy, sanctimonious Bolchevik poseur) but the fact is that there's about five minutes of cleverness in this […]

   • 2013, Ronald F. Marshall, Kierkegaard for the Church: Essays and Sermons, Wipf and Stock Publishers (→ISBN), page 333:

     And this is indeed needed, since we who consider these awkward Christian ideas are but fearful, sanctimonious people, as Kierkegaard once put it so passionately: O, you sanctimonious people with your love which does not set you apart […]

2. (archaic) Holy, devout.

• sanctimoniously
• sanctimoniousness
• sanctimony