pious
- 1Deeply religious and devoted to God, or showing or connected with such devotion, as in pious works.
Her pious grandmother attended Mass every morning before breakfast.
The valley was home to a small community of pious farmers who kept the Sabbath strictly.
Similardevout, religious, godly, reverent
Oppositeimpious, irreligious, ungodly, irreverent
- 2Making a show of one's own virtue, especially compared with others; sanctimonious and judgmental.
I'm tired of his pious lectures about how everyone else wastes money.
The senator's pious statements about honesty rang hollow after the scandal.
Similarsanctimonious, self-righteous, preachy, moralistic
- 3Used of a hope, wish or statement that is genuinely and kindly meant yet has little chance of being fulfilled or of achieving anything.
Calls for both sides to show restraint remained pious hopes as the shelling continued.
Without new funding, the goal of zero traffic deaths within five years is little more than a pious aspiration.
Practice
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Origin
Borrowed from Latin pius, “pious, dutiful, devout,” from Proto-Indo-European *pewH-, “pure.” It may be related to Old English fǣle, “faithful, good.”
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 6 facts
- English pious was borrowed from Latin pius. en.wiktionary.org
- The Latin adjective is pius, with short i; remove the macron. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin pius means pious, dutiful, or devout. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin pius ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European *pewH-. en.wiktionary.org
- The reconstructed root *pewH- means pure. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English fǣle means faithful or good. en.wiktionary.org