There's nothing sacred about "sanctimonious"-at least not any more. But in the early 1600s, the English adjective was still sometimes used to describe someone truly holy or pious (a sense that recalls the meaning of the word's Latin parent, sanctimonia). Shakespeare used both the "holy" and "holier-than-thou" senses in his work, referring in The Tempest to the "sanctimonious" (that is, "holy") ceremonies of marriage, and in Measure for Measure to describe "the sanctimonious pirate that went to sea with the Ten Commandments but scraped one out of the table." (Apparently, the pirate found the restriction on stealing a bit too inconvenient.)
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebAnd Hillary Clinton, who got off with a sanctimonious lecture from then FBI director James Comey. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 26 Aug. 2022 There is something vicariously thrilling about the idea of taking down this cruel, sanctimonious man. Meredith Blakestaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2022 To the contrary, the sanctimonious act upholds the carceral logic of exclusion and reinforces dominant structures of power.WIRED, 26 Aug. 2022 My Mom Died, has inspired sanctimonious comments on Goodreads and beyond, as well as praise for its brash sense of bravery. Michelle Ruiz, Vogue, 18 Aug. 2022 After keeping the press corps and the public waiting for almost 40 minutes, Garland delivered a three-and-a-half-minute speech laden with sanctimonious boilerplate and then headed for the exit without taking questions. John Yoo, National Review, 13 Aug. 2022 Its inevitably heartstrings-tugging relationships and its sanctimonious sense of purpose are leavened with the puckish spirit of Saturday-morning cartoons, if not their playfulness. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 13 July 2022 Vegans and vegetarians are aware of their reputation as sanctimonious killjoys—so aware that nearly half of the non-meat-eating participants in one recent study declined to promote vegetarian options when in the company of unsympathetic meat eaters. Michelle Nijhuis, The Atlantic, 22 June 2022 For four years, Trump had tested and tried his sanctimonious No. 2, but Pence never broke. Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 16 June 2022 See More