Pious meaning: sincere devotion, and the risk of sounding holier than thou

Pious meaning: the senses side by side

1. Devout. Sincerely religious and faithful in practice. He came from a pious family that kept every fast.
2. Self-righteous. Making a display of goodness, often while judging others. Spare me the pious speeches; you were late too.
3. A pious hope or wish. Something sincerely wanted but unlikely to happen. Finishing the renovation by the holidays is a pious hope.
4. Dutiful (older and rare). Loyal to parents, homeland or duty, closer to the Latin sense.

A short pious definition for learners: very religious, or acting as if you are more moral than others. The first sense is old and respectful; the critical sense developed in the seventeenth century.

Example sentences

• The village temple was looked after by a pious couple who swept its steps each morning.
• She found it hard to hear pious advice about saving money from a friend who had just bought a new car.
• Pious pilgrims walked the last few miles barefoot.
• His promise to answer every email the same day turned out to be a pious intention.
• The essay mixes genuine faith with a few pious clichés about hard work.

Piety across faith traditions

The noun piety names the quality of being pious, and every major tradition has its own picture of it. In Christianity it often means devotion shown in prayer, worship and love of neighbour. In Judaism, observance of the commandments and study are central, and the Hebrew word hasid is traditionally rendered as pious or devout one. In Islam, piety is closely tied to awareness of God and steady practice such as daily prayer. Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain communities also speak of devotion, discipline and kindness as signs of a religious life.

In respectful writing, pious works best as a neutral description of practice, not as a judgment of whether someone's faith is sincere. See also faith, religion and divine.

When pious sounds negative

What does pious mean when it is meant as a jab? Look for these signals:

• It describes words rather than a person: pious statements, pious talk, pious platitudes.
• It sits beside a contrast: pious about saving water, yet waters his lawn at noon.
• It is followed by about, suggesting a lecture.

In this sense pious is close to sanctimonious and holier than thou, and it touches on hypocrisy. If you mean the respectful sense and want to avoid any doubt, devout is safer.

Pious compared with similar words

The opposite of the respectful sense is impious or irreverent; for the critical sense, the contrast is humble or sincere, as explored on our humility page.

Origin, spelling and sound

English took pious in the mid-fifteenth century from Latin pius, which meant dutiful, devout and loyal, including loyalty to family and country. The same word survives in the papal name Pius, which is spelled without the o and is a separate case. Say it PIE-us, two syllables, rhyming roughly with bias. The noun most people use is piety (PIE-uh-tee); piousness exists but sounds heavier. More words of belief are gathered in our faith section.