sainted

1. 1
   adjective

   Formally declared a saint, or held in reverence as if one.

   Pilgrims traveled for weeks to honor the sainted bishop at his shrine.

   The sainted hermit was remembered for the miracles attributed to him.

   Similarcanonized, holy, blessed, revered

   Note

   Its most settled home is the phrase of sainted memory, set after a person's name as a mark of honor. The phrase can run ahead of any official verdict. In "Pope John Paul II, of sainted memory," the pope was still only a candidate for beatification. Here the word expresses reverence and does not report a formal ruling.

2. 2
   adjective

   Devoutly religious and morally pure; saintly in conduct.

   Her sainted patience with difficult patients impressed every doctor on the ward.

   He led a sainted life of charity that won the respect of the whole parish.

   Similarsaintly, pious, virtuous, holy, godly

   Oppositewicked, sinful, ungodly

3. 3
   adjective

   Greatly admired and almost universally respected.

   The sainted coach could do no wrong in the eyes of the local press.

   Critics treated the sainted director's early films as untouchable masterpieces.

   Similarrevered, beloved, esteemed

   Oppositedespised

4. 4
   adjective

   A fond term applied to a beloved person who has died, used when speaking of them affectionately.

   She still cooks the stew her sainted mother taught her as a girl.

   Whenever the topic came up, he'd nod toward his sainted uncle's old chair.

   Similarlate, departed, beloved, dear

   Note

   A quiet way of saying someone has died without saying it. It sits almost always between a possessive and a family word: my sainted mother, his sainted uncle. The homely details that tend to follow, such as a mother who never owned an evening dress, give it a fond, slightly rueful tone. Using it of someone still living would confuse the listener.

5. 5
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of saint.

   The Vatican sainted the friar after confirming two miracles.

   Joan of Arc was sainted nearly five hundred years after she died.

   Note

   A regular -ed form doing double duty: simple past in "the Church sainted her," past participle in "she has been sainted." Because the verb is transitive, a plainer synonym of canonize, it nearly always takes an object or appears in the passive. The same spelling also serves as the adjective for the canonized, so in "the sainted bishop" the word is describing, not reporting an act.

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