Sunday, February 6, 2011

Sanctimonious

Definitions:
Princeton says
(excessively or hypocritically pious) "a sickening sanctimonious smile"

Webster says:
1
: hypocritically pious or devout <a sanctimonious moralist><the king's sanctimonious rebuke — G. B. Shaw>
2
obsolete : possessing sanctity : holy
— sanc·ti·mo·nious·ly adverb
— sanc·ti·mo·nious·ness noun

My input:

Pronunciation:  Sanc as in sanctuary. Ti as in tit, or Ti mothy. Mon sounds like moan,  rhymes with phone. I rhymes with tree. Ous sounds the same as it does in glorious. 
Webster audio

Synonyms
holier-than-thou, pietistic, pietistical, pharisaic, pharisaical, self-righteous

Thoughts
I find it interesting that the word was used to mean close to the opposite of what it does now. Lesss confusing than constellate, anyway.

7 comments:

  1. I thought it had something to do with a sanctuary ^^;

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  2. Doesn't Sandra Bullock use this word in Demolition Man?

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  3. I love how this word sounds. It rolls off the tongue nicely. I've heard my mom use this word when describing certain politicians. XD

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  4. i thought sanctimonious was a common word

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  5. I already know who I'm going to use this word for. THanks! Following!

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