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sanctimoniousness

 - 3 dictionary results

sanc⋅ti⋅mo⋅ni⋅ous

  [sangk-tuh-moh-nee-uhs]
Use sanctimoniousness in a Sentence
–adjective
1. making a hypocritical show of religious devotion, piety, righteousness, etc.: They resented his sanctimonious comments on immorality in America.
2. Obsolete. holy; sacred.
Origin:
1595–1605; sanctimony + -ous

Related forms:
sanc⋅ti⋅mo⋅ni⋅ous⋅ly, adverb
sanc⋅ti⋅mo⋅ni⋅ous⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To sanctimoniousness
sanc·ti·mo·ni·ous   (sāngk'tə-mō'nē-əs)   
adj.  Feigning piety or righteousness: "a solemn, unsmiling, sanctimonious old iceberg that looked like he was waiting for a vacancy in the Trinity" (Mark Twain).
sanc'ti·mo'ni·ous·ly adv., sanc'ti·mo'ni·ous·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

sanctimonious 
1603 (in "Measure for Measure," with the disparaging sense), from sanctimony "holiness of life and character" (1540), from M.Fr. sanctimonie, from L. sanctimonia "holiness, virtuousness," from sanctus "holy" (see saint). The un-ironic, literal sense was used occasionally in Eng. from 1604 to c.1800.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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