sanctimony
noun
sanc·ti·mo·ny
ˈsaŋ(k)-tə-ˌmō-nē 
plural sanctimonies
1
obsolete
: holiness
2
: affected or hypocritical holiness
Examples of sanctimony in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
How not to hear in his philippic the traces of an OCD inscribed in our cultural DNA, a sanctimony that launched the archetypal act of avoidance that forms our origin myth?
—
Andrew Kay, Harpers Magazine, 28 May 2025
After all the criticism, the skepticism, the downright sanctimony about the most controversial topic in New York sports — the exhausting, overburdening minutes — the Knicks lost a game, the narrative will go, because neither Hart nor Brunson played enough of crunch time.
—Fred Katz, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
Despite all the pastor’s conventionality and sanctimony, there are flames between them, but those flickers run fairly cool until a breaking point in which Manders at last makes explicit reference to them.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2025
And Joe Biden’s sanctimony and moralizing seem less jarring when Americans recall that Carter until recently continued to teach a Sunday school class in his home church in Plains, Ga.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 9 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sanctimony
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.
Andrew Kay, Harpers Magazine, 28 May 2025
After all the criticism, the skepticism, the downright sanctimony about the most controversial topic in New York sports — the exhausting, overburdening minutes — the Knicks lost a game, the narrative will go, because neither Hart nor Brunson played enough of crunch time.
—Fred Katz, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
Despite all the pastor’s conventionality and sanctimony, there are flames between them, but those flickers run fairly cool until a breaking point in which Manders at last makes explicit reference to them.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2025
And Joe Biden’s sanctimony and moralizing seem less jarring when Americans recall that Carter until recently continued to teach a Sunday school class in his home church in Plains, Ga.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 9 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sanctimony
Cite this Entry
“Sanctimony.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sanctimony. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share