sanctimony


Also found in: Thesaurus, Wikipedia.

sanc·ti·mo·ny

 (săngk′tə-mō′nē)
n.
Righteousness accompanied by an unwarranted attitude of moral or social superiority; smug or hypocritical righteousness.

[Obsolete French sanctimonie, from Latin sānctimōnia, sacredness, from sānctus, holy; see sanctify.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sanc•ti•mo•ny

(ˈsæŋk təˌmoʊ ni)

n.
1. pretended, affected, or hypocritical religious devotion, righteousness, etc.
2. Obs. sanctity; sacredness.
[1530–40; < Latin sānctimōnia holiness. See Sanctus, -mony]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.sanctimony - the quality of being hypocritically devout
hypocrisy - insincerity by virtue of pretending to have qualities or beliefs that you do not really have
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

sanctimony

noun
A show or expression of feelings or beliefs one does not actually hold or possess:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
References in periodicals archive ?
Summary: Islamabad [Pakistan], Aug 21 (ANI): In a hypocritical display of sanctimony, Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan will visit a Shiv Temple in Sindh's Tharparkar district.
First and foremost, Hazlitt pointed out, partisanship promoted the guilty pleasure of sanctimony. If we could convince ourselves that our opponents were evil and debased, then we could also, by convenient corollary, congratulate ourselves on being superior and virtuous.
THERE has been much sanctimony in the wake of the hellish, controversial and disturbing Michael Jackson documentary - Finding Neverland.
The sanctimony of Edelstein's mea culpa has the same tenor as the sanctimony in rebukes of him.
Things come to a head on one thunderous midsummer's evening as Caroline prepares the fatted calf for the return of the prodigal Leo, who has graduated from Cambridge with a First in self-absorbed sanctimony.
Enough with the sanctimony of the early riser who berates anyone who doesn't think the morning is the best part of the day.
So, sure, you can fulminate eternally over impure coffee about your daughter-in-law's food sanctimony, with full justification and no doubt ample validation from those other families, your friends, and people like me, but your son and grandkids won't be there.
When strategic autonomy keeps looking and sounding like unadulterated Nehruvian sanctimony, America can still act.
Sorry To Bother You never sacrifices story or laughs for sanctimony and never relies on easy, binary interpretations of culpability as we watch rising telemarketing star Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) and his girlfriend Detroit (Tessa Thompson) navigate ambition, stagnation, prejudice, pride, and a lack of opportunities in an only slightly fictionalized Oakland, California.
We should be happy the debate has re-opened into whether fans deserve better but spare us the sanctimony on either side and actually ask fans what they need.
Osinbajo, in his 'sanctimony', has been silent on the exposed corruption under the Buhari administration, including the leaked memo detailing N9 trillion corrupt oil contracts at the NNPC, exposed sleazes in oil subsidy deals, diversion of Internally Displaces Persons (IDP) intervention funds, which includes the probe of a misappropriated N18bn in National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) under his direct supervision as well as another looting in government agencies such as the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).