as in pious
showing a devotion to God and to a life of virtue
a saintly man who devoted his life to caring for the dying
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Recent Examples of saintly
The contrast between the saintly behavior expected of these evangelists and their less-than-righteous day-to-day lives is a reliable, ever-replenishing fountain of comedy, as everlasting as the Lord’s love.
—
Ben Travers, IndieWire, 9 Mar. 2025
In his final collection in 2010, Alexander McQueen also titled a gown after the Botticelli painting — although the grey silk organza dress was digitally printed with two saintly figures, not Botticelli’s woman.
—Leah Dolan, CNN, 3 Mar. 2025
The relics of the monastery’s saintly founder were on view for public veneration.
—Therese Cory, The Conversation, 28 Jan. 2025
The saintly and spinsterish nurse Enid spends three sleepless days and nights soul-searching, deciding whether to report a murderer or to pursue a future with him.
—The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for saintly
Ben Travers, IndieWire, 9 Mar. 2025
In his final collection in 2010, Alexander McQueen also titled a gown after the Botticelli painting — although the grey silk organza dress was digitally printed with two saintly figures, not Botticelli’s woman.
—Leah Dolan, CNN, 3 Mar. 2025
The relics of the monastery’s saintly founder were on view for public veneration.
—Therese Cory, The Conversation, 28 Jan. 2025
The saintly and spinsterish nurse Enid spends three sleepless days and nights soul-searching, deciding whether to report a murderer or to pursue a future with him.
—The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for saintly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for saintly
Adjective
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The mobius-thinking at times almost seems like Medieval Zen, what with the emphasis on emptiness and silent meditation, and in fact that was what the Church fathers objected to most: too much quiet, solitary contemplation, not enough pious instruction.—
Jon Raymond
August 5,
Literary Hub,
5 Aug. 2025
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This may well sound like something that would’ve been played as a pious Christian allegory in another era.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
3 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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After all, Stabler was married with 300 children, and a devout Catholic to boot.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
25 Sep. 2025
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Rounding out the mourning quartet is their sister Anne (Emily Fairn), physically sickly, emotionally brittle and unequivocally devout.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The fire ignited first on the property of the Twelve Tribes religious cult, which has a compound on Eldorado Drive, near the Marshall Mesa Open Space.—
Noelle Phillips,
Denver Post,
26 Sep. 2025
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Mandato cited writings of several founding fathers, including John Adams, Daniel Webster and John Witherspoon, who argued the country's constitutional system cannot endure without a moral and religious population, and Christian principals are conducive to good citizenship.—
Vivian Jones,
Nashville Tennessean,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The jobs that Biden wanted and did create are the same ones that Trump hates: wind, solar, electric vehicles, the usual gang of sainted Democratic projects.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
7 Sep. 2025
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And the sainted Barack Obama Administration, which launched an extended bombing campaign in Libya, did not get congressional authorization.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
26 June 2025
Adjective
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In 2016, at least $4,000 in cash donations were stolen from the ICM after the mosque's celebration of Eid al-Fitr, a holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.—
Angele Latham,
Nashville Tennessean,
26 Sep. 2025
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Wahlberg plays a holy fool in Boogie Nights, our naïve but well-endowed guide through the heyday of theatrical pornography and its decline into something cheaper and tawdrier courtesy of the triumph of VHS.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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That Maestro screening featured the vociferous participation of Leonard Bernstein’s surviving family members, as well as Cooper himself watching silently from the audience (the strike prevented him from doing more), a perfect companion to Cooper’s alternately reverent and over-the-top biopic.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
25 Sep. 2025
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The atmosphere is reverent and energized, with attendees standing in collective praise hours before the formal program begins.—
Amanda Castro
Mandy Taheri
Peter Aitken,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Saintly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/saintly. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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