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Synonym Chooser

How is the word piety distinct from other similar nouns?

Some common synonyms of piety are allegiance, devotion, fealty, fidelity, and loyalty. While all these words mean "faithfulness to something to which one is bound by pledge or duty," piety stresses fidelity to obligations regarded as natural and fundamental.

filial piety

When would allegiance be a good substitute for piety?

While the synonyms allegiance and piety are close in meaning, allegiance suggests an adherence like that of citizens to their country.

pledging allegiance

When is it sensible to use devotion instead of piety?

While in some cases nearly identical to piety, devotion stresses zeal and service amounting to self-dedication.

a painter's devotion to her art

When might fealty be a better fit than piety?

Although the words fealty and piety have much in common, fealty implies a fidelity acknowledged by the individual and as compelling as a sworn vow.

fealty to the truth

When can fidelity be used instead of piety?

The meanings of fidelity and piety largely overlap; however, fidelity implies strict and continuing faithfulness to an obligation, trust, or duty.

marital fidelity

When could loyalty be used to replace piety?

The synonyms loyalty and piety are sometimes interchangeable, but loyalty implies a faithfulness that is steadfast in the face of any temptation to renounce, desert, or betray.

valued the loyalty of his friends

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of piety In an area that used to produce influential Catholic churchmen the way the Dodgers churned out Rookies of the Year, Gomez has amounted to the living equivalent of a hair shirt: a mode of piety that serves no one but the wearer. Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2025 The story is set in Qiu’s hometown of Hangzhou, a city where ultra-modern skyscrapers glow above thousand-year-old canals, mirroring the film’s blend of technology with traditional values like filial piety. Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 19 June 2025 Lucy Ash, The Baton and the Cross This book was largely motivated by anger at the hypocrisy of senior clerics and politicians who profess great piety but whose actions are anything but Christian. Literary Hub, 16 June 2025 This helps explain why some women may still feel obliged to have children out of a sense of filial piety. Maro B. Enriquez, Christian Science Monitor, 27 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for piety
Recent Examples of Synonyms for piety
Noun
  • Right now - from religion to climate change to doomsday prepping - there's a lot of talk about the end of the world.
    Brittany Luse, NPR, 26 Sep. 2025
  • Alejandro and his band embrace bomba even more here, dedicating the album’s opener to the genre and leaning into its Afro-Puerto Rican origins and ties to African religions.
    Juan J. Arroyo, Rolling Stone, 26 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Groups supporting a candidate for sainthood campaign to publicize their holiness.
    Ruth Sherlock, NPR, 7 Sep. 2025
  • For instance, the fruit’s holiness is signaled in the Pentateuch.
    Demir Alp, JSTOR Daily, 29 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • Nova seems to be pouring that same devotion into her friendship with the orange cat, proving that the breed's loyalty can extend well beyond its human pack.
    Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Sep. 2025
  • The sequences of Ann and her acolytes singing and dancing to remixed Shaker hymns are transcendent, capturing the completeness of their devotion.
    Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 20 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • To have someone die for the courage of their faith.
    Amy DeLaura, The Washington Examiner, 25 Sep. 2025
  • When Atsu was first revealed as the game’s protagonist, reactionaries jumped to disavow the sequel, citing bad-faith reasoning that failed to hide their prejudices.
    Alyssa Mercante, Rolling Stone, 25 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Saramalacara Saramalacara made a splash with 2024’s Heráldica, a thrashing electronic opus that touches on everything from spirituality to rebirth to general internet brainrot.
    Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 25 Sep. 2025
  • Advertisement Reservation Dogs was one of television’s rare masterpieces, woven from a lifetime’s worth of observations and obsessions, existential struggles and in-jokes, and shot through with a sparkling thread of spirituality.
    Judy Berman, Time, 23 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Rebecca Lowe, who anchors the Premier League Mornings desk show at halftime and between match kickoff windows, emphasized the event’s ability to pull people behind a singular interest — Premier League soccer — even if the fans’ team allegiances varied.
    Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 20 Sep. 2025
  • But Colbert insisted that viewers take their allegiance to the former Apprentice host a step further.
    Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Alma is torn between her loyalty to Hank and believing Maggie, all while her own dark secrets threaten to bubble to the surface.
    Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 26 Sep. 2025
  • But most of the stakeholders in the TikTok investment group are business leaders who have shown sustained loyalty to the president, which makes the deal look like a reward for fealty, Tofel says.
    Bobby Allyn, NPR, 26 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Gabe is an active member of the symphonic band, Green Hill philharmonic winds, the Green Hill brass quintet and the Spirit of Green Hill Marching Band, leading by example through hard work and dedication.
    Andy Humbles, Nashville Tennessean, 22 Sep. 2025
  • The enthusiasm and dedication that Julio and Jesus convey in our conversations was contagious.
    Steve Denning, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Piety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piety. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

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