holy writ

noun

variants often Holy Writ
1
2
: a writing or utterance having unquestionable authority
… its financial precepts were not necessarily Holy Writ.Herbert Stein

Examples of holy writ in a Sentence

quotes extensively from Holy Writ in his sermons
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The text seemed like holy writ. Robert Eggers, HollywoodReporter, 17 Oct. 2025 Drawing on existing holy writ was in no way scandalous. Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 1 Apr. 2025 Fortunately, Marvel Studios has always treated its comic books as inspiration rather than holy writ, so Schaeffer felt at liberty to simplify Billy’s origins as needed. Adam B. Vary, Variety, 18 Oct. 2024 After years of hints and rumors of a sequel to 2014’s celebrated Black Metal, fans pored over its sequel like holy writ to glean priceless scraps of insight into Blunt’s evolution. Pitchfork, 1 Oct. 2024 Putting aside holy writ, Greek and Roman classical writers were going to be the ones with a direct line to wisdom and truth. Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2024 Neither did another aspect to Utah’s defeat — and an additional cardinal sin in Whittingham’s holy writ of football: giving up huge chunks of yardage by way of an inability to stop the run. Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 9 Oct. 2022 Pundits have latched onto these voter surveys, treating them as holy writ. Jeff Scrima, WSJ, 12 Oct. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of holy writ was before the 12th century

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Cite this Entry

“Holy writ.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/holy%20writ. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.

Kids Definition

Holy Writ

noun
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