as in moralistic
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Recent Examples of pharisaical
Lists are no substitute for criticism, but those who take them as inimical to criticism are pharisaical.
—
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2022
David and Samuel explore the U.S. energy sector and evaluate what the future holds in an ESG landscape that has done its very best to bring economic incoherence to its pharisaical agenda.
—Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 16 Jan. 2022
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2022
David and Samuel explore the U.S. energy sector and evaluate what the future holds in an ESG landscape that has done its very best to bring economic incoherence to its pharisaical agenda.
—Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 16 Jan. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pharisaical
Adjective
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Good intentions — and handsome animation — aside, Forevergreen is ultimately too maudlin and moralistic to rank it much higher than this.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
10 Mar. 2026
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The script, penned by Bartek Bartosik and Naqqash Khalid, becomes bizarrely moralistic by the end, insinuating that the debased and debauched might perhaps see their problems solved by becoming domesticated.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
6 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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But Michael assessed Anthropic’s terms as both restrictive and sanctimonious.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
14 Mar. 2026
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Look, sports and sanctimonious have gone hand in hand from the earliest of days of newspaper columnists to the most recent of social-media outlets.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
12 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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In addition to the pious, persevering Goma and flawed Chandravati in the mortal realm, in the divine realm there are the goddesses Sati and her reincarnation as Parvati.—
Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz,
The Conversation,
24 Mar. 2026
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In theory, their story ought to have enough drama to satisfy both pious and secular tastes.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
22 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Last month, White criticized the president’s declaration of war against Iran and his hypocritical stance on peace.—
Charisma Madarang,
Rolling Stone,
27 Mar. 2026
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Thomas Jefferson, the great hero of the Declaration of Independence, is shown as hypocritical, cowardly, manipulative, a schemer of every kind.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The only certainty in these films is that the self-righteous Optimus Prime will always preach some long-winded, sleep-inducing monologue at the end of the movie before a radio-friendly Linkin Park or Imagine Dragons song blares over the credits.—
Sergio Pereira,
Space.com,
11 Mar. 2026
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In the novel, the servant Joseph is a self-righteous zealot who’s always banging on about the Bible.—
Natasha O'Neill,
Vanity Fair,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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And yet, to holier-than-thou doctors like young Ogilvie (Lucas Iverson), Howard is a cautionary tale: a glutton who can’t control himself, a rube who hasn’t heard of Ozempic, and a lazy slouch who can’t manage to drag himself to aqua aerobics.—
Marah Eakin,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2026
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But there’s a line between analysis and holier-than-thou bloviation.—
Mara Reinstein,
HollywoodReporter,
24 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Using artificial intelligence to compose a social media post in the wake of a tragedy, or using it to write a fan letter to an Olympic athlete, comes off as insincere.—
Gayle Rogers,
The Conversation,
17 Mar. 2026
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That being said, its professional technical aspects just add to the impression that this is a glib and insincere effort, trying to graft a fun moviegoing experience onto a depressing story about hateful people reveling in each other’s pain.—
Katie Rife,
IndieWire,
16 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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For the richest, densest, most unctuous quiche, choose heavy cream.—
Georgeanne Brennan,
Mercury News,
26 Mar. 2026
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Then, there’s Agatha (Wasikowska) dropping into town seemingly from the sky to enact a grand plan involving her estranged family, self-help guru Stafford Weiss (Cusack), and her unctuous showbiz mom (Williams, making the case that Lady Macbeth really could’ve just used a damn cigarette).—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
20 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pharisaical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pharisaical. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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