Wiktionary

holier-than-thou

English edit

WOTD – 4 August 2020

Etymology edit

From Isaiah 65:5 in the Bible (King James Version; spelling modernized): “Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou”;[1][2] from Biblical Hebrew קְדַשְׁתִּיךָ (qəḏaštîḵā).

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

holier-than-thou (comparative more holier-than-thou, superlative most holier-than-thou)

  1. (derogatory) Hypocritically or self-righteously pious; sanctimonious.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:arrogant
    • [1874 May 21, “The Work of the National Board”, in The Baltimore Underwriter: A Weekly Journal Devoted to the Interests of Insurance in All Its Branches, volume XI, number 21, Baltimore, Md.: Bombaugh & Ransom, […], →OCLC, page 421:
      [T]here are local jealousies and disunities which are not likely to be soothed by the patent fact that companies which most strenuously assert the I-am-holier-than-thou claim daily violate the rules by which they profess to be invariably governed, [...]]
    • 1887 November 18, “The Hippolytus of Eur[i]pides”, in The Dartmouth (4th series), volume 9, number 5, Hanover, N.H.: The editors [from Dartmouth College], published 1888, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 107, column 1:
      Hippolytus is quite insufferable in his endless protestations of pity and purity. One tires of such abnormal goodness and wishes for a little natural depravity. He is a perfect type of the "holier than thou" individual whose secret heart is a very stagnation of egotism, selfishness and disregard for others' feelings.
    • 1888, Fitz-Mac [pseudonym; James P. MacCarthy], “The Rev. Myron W[inslow] Reed”, in Political Portraits, Colorado Springs, Colo.: The Gazette Printing Co., →OCLC, page 94:
      His garb is such as any gentleman might wear—a farmer, a thrifty mechanic, a teacher, or a plain business man—a brown slouch hat, any kind of a simple necktie, any kind of a coat except the unctuous holier-than-thou broadcloth with the front full of button holes.
    • 1952 March 29, Harry S. Truman, “Address at the Jefferson–Jackson Day Dinner”, in Harry S. Truman, 1952–53: […] (Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States), Washington, D.C.: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service; United States Government Printing Office, published 1966, →OCLC, page 225, column 1:
      I don't think the "black is white" campaign of the Republican Party is going to succeed. I think the voters are going to see through this holier-than-thou disguise that our Republican friends are putting on.
    • 1980 December 1, Ray Hnatyshyn, “Judges Act: Measure to Increase Salaries of Judges”, in House of Commons Debates, Official Report, First Session—Thirty-second Parliament, 29 Elizabeth II (House of Commons of Canada), volume V, Ottawa: Queen’s Printer for Canada, →OCLC, page 5211, column 2:
      But I can understand the hon. member's sense of sanctimony; he has now been a member of the NDP caucus for a while and the holier-than-thou attitude has been bred into him.
    • 1991 July 8, George [Herbert Walker] Bush, “Interview with Foreign Journalists”, in George Bush, 1991 (in Two Books) (Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States), book II, Washington, D.C.: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service; United States Government Printing Office, published 1992, →OCLC, page 835, column 2:
      The Soviet economy is hurting now, and I say that not holier-than-thou, but it is; factually, the Soviet economy is in bad shape.
    • 2003, Lothar Höbelt, “The Nazi Question Mark: The ‘Linguistic Turn’ and the ‘Shadows of the Past’”, in Defiant Populist: Jörg Haider and the Politics of Austria (Central European Studies), West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press, →ISBN, page 121:
      Whether you see that as belated recognition of a collective shame (if not guilt) or as a "holier than thou" pharisaism, it was certainly made much simpler by the fact that the generation under discussion had started to fade from public life.
    • 2014 September 30, David Smith, “David’s Guide for What to Look For in a Centre”, in Suffer the Little Children: An Insider’s View of the Workings of Early Childcare Facilities in New Zealand […], [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, pages 94–95:
      Everything connected with the care of children no matter how trivial has to be seen to be politically correct. This tends to create a "holier-than-thou" attitude, where if something even hints of being politically incorrect, then no matter how much fun it might be for the children, it will not take place.

Usage notes edit

The term has become a snowclone, a format now used of other qualities, for example lefter-than-thou: see Appendix:Snowclones/Xer than thou.

Translations edit

References edit

  1. ^ See The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1611, →OCLC, Isaiah 65:2 and 5, column 1: “I haue ſpread out my hands all the day vnto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their owne thoughts: [...] Which ſay; Stand by thy ſelfe, come not neere to me; for I am holier then thou: theſe are a ſmoke in my noſe; a fire that burneth all the day.”
  2. ^ “holier-than-thou” under “holy, adj. and n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1899; “holier-than-thou, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading edit

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=holier-than-thou&oldid=78891113"