Synonyms of holier-than-thou

holier-than-thou

adjective

as in smug

disapproving having or showing the annoying attitude of people who believe that they are morally better than other people

a holier-than-thou attitude

Related Words

• smug
• cavalier
• boastful
• self-righteous
• bragging
• arrogant
• moralistic
• self-important
• preachy
• selfish
• vainglorious
• conceited
• pompous
• dogmatic
• moralizing
• bigheaded
• egotistic
• complacent
• didactic
• masterful
• egoistic
• homiletic
• self-satisfied
• high-and-mighty
• cautionary
• admonishing
• vain
• cocky
• prideful
• sententious
• admonitory
• stuck-up
• prescriptive
• self-conceited
• snooty
• snobbish
• supercilious
• biggety
• snobby
• pretentious
• uppity
• swellheaded
• swaggering
• bombastic
• important
• overweening
• haughty
• blustery
• consequential
• blusterous
• bumptious
• braggy
• proud
• assured
• huffy
• self-opinionated
• assumptive
• domineering
• pontifical
• uppish
• disdainful
• toplofty
• chesty
• high-handed
• overconfident
• highfalutin
• high-hat
• self-assertive
• braggart
• superior
• presumptuous
• self-assured
• condescending
• lordly
• self-centered
• peremptory
• imperious
• self-confident
• confident
• fastuous
• self-congratulatory
• patronizing
• lofty
• self-glorifying
• self-contented
• presuming
• self-asserting
• self-dramatizing
• self-engrossed
• self-promoting
• self-gratulatory
• self-adulatory
• self-affected
• self-applauding

Dissimilar Words

• diffident
• timid
• meek
• self-critical
• unassertive
• self-doubting
• unassuming
• down-to-earth
• sheepish
• self-reproachful
• self-distrustful
• unpretentious
• bashful
• self-reproving
• humble
• mousy
• shy
• demure
• shrinking
• introverted
• overmodest
• retiring
• modest
• unarrogant
• egoless
• uncomplacent

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of holier-than-thou

How anyone ever saw Fried as a holier-than-thou aristocratic formalist is beyond me. — Carlos Valladares, ARTnews.com, 14 Aug. 2026

But there’s a line between analysis and holier-than-thou bloviation. — Mara Reinstein, HollywoodReporter, 24 Nov. 2025

WalletHub made sure that no state walked away feeling entirely holier-than-thou. — Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 19 Aug. 2025

After all, Bill can be a buzzkill, and the Hills’ other neighbors, such as the conspiratorial Dale Gribble across the alley and the holier-than-thou Minh and Kahn Souphanousinphone next door, are flawed too. — Adrienne Matei, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2025

And Velia Martínez, who played the Spanish-speaking, holier-than-thou grandmother set in her ways, was born in Tampa, fluent in English and a longtime actress in Mexico and Cuba. — Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 8 July 2025

Laurie, now adopting her own holier-than-thou perch, is just as bad. — Erik Kain, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025

Unlike baseball, with some of its holier-than-thou decisions with its Hall of Fame, the Basketball Hall of Fame largely looks at career on-court achievements. — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 18 Feb. 2025