Word.ws English Dictionary

sanctimony

/ˈsæŋk.tɪ.mə.ni/US/ˈsæŋk.tɪˌmoʊ.ni/

sanctimony noun: a hypocritical form of excessive piety, considered to be an affectation merely for public show.

Noun

sanctimony (countable and uncountable, plural sanctimonies)

  1. A hypocritical form of excessive piety, considered to be an affectation merely for public show.
    • At its best[…] “The Newsroom” has a wit, sophistication and manic energy that recalls James L. Brooks’s classic movie “Broadcast News.” But at its worst, the show chokes on its own sanctimony.2012 June 21, Alessandra Stanley, “So Sayeth the Anchorman”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
  2. (obsolete) A state of holiness.

sanctimony meaning in Tamil, Urdu and Arabic

sanctimony in Tamil

திருநிலைப் பகட்டாரவாரம், புறவேடப்பெருமை

sanctimony in Urdu

دکھاوٹی تقدس

sanctimony in Arabic

a hypocritical form of excessive piety
رياء riyā’

Forms of sanctimony

pluralsanctimonies

Origin of sanctimony

From Middle French sanctimonie, from Latin sānctimōnia (“sanctity, sacredness; purity, chastity”), from sanctus (“holy”) + -monia (“action or result of an action”).

Words formed from sanctimony

Questions about sanctimony

What does sanctimony mean?
Sanctimony means a hypocritical form of excessive piety, considered to be an affectation merely for public show.
What is sanctimony in Tamil?
Sanctimony in Tamil is திருநிலைப் பகட்டாரவாரம், புறவேடப்பெருமை. See Sanctimony meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is sanctimony?
Sanctimony is a noun.
How do you pronounce sanctimony?
Sanctimony is pronounced /ˈsæŋk.tɪ.mə.ni/ (UK).
What is the plural of sanctimony?
The plural of sanctimony is sanctimonies.

Words near sanctimony in the dictionary

  1. sanctimonial
  2. sanctimonies
  3. sanctimonious
  4. sanctimoniously
  5. sanctimoniousness
  6. sanctimony
  7. sanction
  8. sanctionability
  9. sanctionable
  10. sanctionably
  11. sanctional

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sanctimony (page history and authors); sanctimony (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sanctimony (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-sanctimony.wav.

Cite this entry: “sanctimony.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sanctimony. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.