pious

Deeply devoted spiritually

Pious describes deep religious devotion and dutiful observance of faith: a pious woman who never missed morning prayers, pious observance of the Sabbath.

The word can turn contemptuous when devotion seems excessive or performative: pious platitudes, pious moralizing.

A pious hope or pious wish is sincere but unlikely to be fulfilled.

virtuous

righteous

Morally good, justified

  • moralConcerning right conduct
  • uprightVertical or morally sound
  • ethicalConforming to moral principles

principled · saintly · holy · pure · blameless · honorable · conscientious · noble · just · scrupulous

zealous

fervent

Intensely and sincerely felt

missionary · proselytizing · crusading · passionate · intense · earnest · devout · militant · fundamentalist · uncompromising

devout

reverent

Feeling profound respect

spiritual · devotional · faithful · religious · believing · theistic · god-fearing · observant · churchgoing · scripturally

sanctimonious

self-righteous

Smugly certain of correctness

smug · preachy · judgmental · unctuous · pietistic · priggish · canting · insincere · goody-goody · affected

mystical

transcendent

Exceeding usual boundaries

spiritual · exalted · heavenly · divine · blessed · rapturous · otherworldly · sublime · ineffable · enlightened

ritualistic

liturgical

Of public worship rites

canonical · orthodox · ecclesiastical · ablution · fasting · pilgrimage · rosary · incantation · rites · vestments

Categories
Opposites
religious devotion

piousgodless

Lacking belief in deities

impious · irreligious · ungodly · atheistic · nonreligious

reverence and respect

piousirreverent

Disrespectful toward authority

profane · blasphemous · sacrilegious · impious · disrespectful

sincerity of religious expression

pioussincere

Genuinely felt, not feigned

genuine · authentic · unpretentious · humble · honest

Phrases
Family

impious, piously, piousness, impiousness

Familiarity
Top 100,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Everyday, not technical · Rated G