pious.

1. Showing sincere religious devotion.

2. In disapproving usage, making a show of sincere feelings, religious devotion, or virtue that the speaker doubts.

3. In the expression pious hope, a wish or expectation considered unlikely to be fulfilled.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• pious household
• pious devotion
• pious hope
• pious excuse

On the page

The pious housekeeper prayed before beginning her work.

A pious hope that the estate would repair itself replaced any actual plan.

He offered a pious excuse for refusing to visit the poor.

Usage notes

Primary category: gothic. Positive or neutral for religious devotion, but sometimes disapproving for an allegedly insincere display. Pious hope, especially British usage, concerns an unlikely outcome and need not imply hypocrisy. Comparative more pious; superlative most pious. Derived adverb piously; noun piety.