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)

Of or pertaining to piety, exhibiting piety, devout, godfearing.
- December 2014, “Archived copy”, in National Geographic‎, archived from the original on 12 February 2015, retrieved 7 September 2021:
  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.
Relating to religion or religious works.
- A pious cause.
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 (wariʿ), 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