pious

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pīus (“pious, dutiful, blessed, kind, devout”), from Proto-Indo-European *pewH- (“pure”). Cognate with Old English fǣle (“faithful, trusty, good; dear, beloved”). More at feal.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpaɪəs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪəs

Adjective

pious (comparative more pious, superlative most pious)

1. Of or pertaining to piety, exhibiting piety, devout, godfearing.
   • December 2014, “Archived copy”, in National Geographic‎^[1], archived from the original on 12 February 2015:

     Its male residents dress like crows: heavy black suits, black Borsalino hats, the old grandfathers hugely whiskered and the boys in peot, the curled sidelocks of the pious.

2. Relating to religion or religious works.
   • A pious cause.
3. Insisting on or making a show of one's own virtue, especially in comparison to others; sanctimonious, condescending, judgmental.

Usage notes

• Sometimes used pejoratively, in the sense of "mistaken" or "false" piety, as in "pious errors", "pious frauds".

Synonyms

• reverent, reverential, dutiful, religious, devout, godly, observant

Antonyms

• (of or pertaining to piety): impious, independent, profane

Hyponyms

• frum

Derived terms

• piously
• piousness
• pi

Related terms

• piety

Translations

of or pertaining to piety

• Arabic: صَالِح‎ (ar) (ṣāliḥ), وَرِع‎ (wariʕ), مُتَدَيِّن‎ (mutadayyin), تَقِيّ‎ (taqiyy), بَرّ‎ (barr)
• Armenian: բարեպաշտ (hy) (barepašt)
• Belarusian: набо́жны (nabóžny), пабо́жны (pabóžny), багабо́йны (bahabójny)
• Bulgarian: на́божен (bg) (nábožen), благочести́в (bg) (blagočestív)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 敬虔 (zh) (jìngqián), 虔誠／虔诚 (zh) (qiánchéng)

• Czech: zbožný (cs)
• Danish: ydmyg, from (da)
• Dutch: vroom (nl)
• Esperanto: pia (eo)
• Finnish: hurskas (fi), harras (fi), jumalinen (fi), jumalaapelkääväinen
• French: pieux (fr)
• Galician: pío
• Georgian: ღვთისმოშიში (ɣvtismošiši), მორწმუნე (morc̣mune), ღვთისმოსავი (ɣvtismosavi)
• German: fromm (de), pietätvoll (de)
• Greek: ευσεβής (el) (efsevís), θρήσκος (el) (thrískos)

  Ancient: εὐσεβής (eusebḗs), θρῆσκος (thrêskos)

• Indonesian: saleh (id)
• Japanese: 敬虔な (ja) (けいけいんな, keiken na), 信心深い (ja) (しんじんぶかい, shinjinbukai)
• Kazakh: ғибадатшыл (ğibadatşyl)
• Korean: 경건하다 (ko) (gyeonggeonhada)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: پەرستش‎ (peristiş)

• Latin: pius (la)
• Malay: salih, warak (ms), alim (ms)
• Maori: whakapono
• Norman: pieux
• Norwegian: from (no)
• Occitan: piós (oc)
• Old English: ǣfæst
• Plautdietsch: fromm
• Polish: pobożny (pl), nabożny (pl), bogobojny (pl), zbożny (pl)
• Portuguese: pio (pt)
• Romanian: pios (ro)
• Russian: на́божный (ru) (nábožnyj), благочести́вый (ru) (blagočestívyj), богобоя́зненный (ru) (bogobojáznennyj)
• Sanskrit: यज्यु (sa) (yajyu)
• Scottish Gaelic: cràbhach
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: pobožan (sh)

• Slovak: zbožný
• Spanish: piadoso (es)
• Swedish: from (sv), pietistisk, pietetsfull (sv), andaktsfull (sv), vördsam (sv)
• Tocharian B: kärtse-ṣälype
• Turkish: dindar (tr), imanı bütün, sofu (tr), salih (tr), mütedeyyin (tr)
• Ukrainian: побо́жний (pobóžnyj), набо́жний (nabóžnyj), благочести́вий (uk) (blahočestývyj)
• Yiddish: פֿרום‎ (frum)

practiced under the pretext of religion

• Bulgarian: набожен (bg) (nabožen)
• Finnish: tekopyhä (fi), muotojumalinen
• Georgian: ღვთისმოშიში (ɣvtismošiši), ღვთისმოსავი (ɣvtismosavi), მორწმუნე (morc̣mune)
• German: scheinheilig (de) (hypocritical)
• Japanese: (phrase) 信心の名を借りた (shinjin no na wo karita), 宗教にかこつけた (shūkyō ni kakotsuketa); (hypocritical) 偽善的な (gizen-teki na)
• Maori: whakapono
• Scottish Gaelic: cràbhach
• Serbo-Croatian: nabožan (sh)
• Turkish: bağnaz (tr), yobaz (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} pio (it)
• Old English: ^{(please verify)} hāliġ
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} piadoso (es)

Anagrams

• pouis