He was fearful of seeming impious. an impious act that horrified their pious mother
Recent Examples on the WebOnce secular policies are interpreted by their opponents as impious challenges to God’s rule, compromise becomes apostasy. Jonathan Stevenson, The New York Review of Books, 7 Sep. 2022 The character of Henry may be derisive, impious, cantankerous, even contemptuous, but Carax treats both the story and especially the actor reverently and deferentially. Richard Brod, The New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2021 The Pilgrims who arrived in 1620 classified it as just another day, rejecting the impious merrymaking of old England. Steve Chapman, chicagotribune.com, 23 Dec. 2020 The other Gulf Arab countries — the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Bahrain — had also eased restrictions at the onset of Ramadan, an especially social month when pious and impious alike make social calls and hold dinner parties. Sarah Dadouch, BostonGlobe.com, 20 May 2020 It is dominated by a single voice: Ms. Nixon’s, reciting stanzas instead of voice-over narration and cracking impish, sometimes impious jokes with the marvelous Ms. Ehle. A. O. Scott, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2017