as in pious
formal
showing or having a lot of respect
a reverential attitude They spoke in reverential terms about their recently departed spiritual advisor.
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Recent Examples of reverential
The fight between the two very different billionaires is emblematic of a growing culture clash in the art world, as the old guard faces off with collectors from the tech sector who tend to be less reverential toward the market’s norms.
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Rachel Corbett, Vulture, 16 Apr. 2025
Inaba’s portrait of the human-feline relationship is reverential, an expression of devotion in its attention to detail.
—The New Yorker, New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2025
His age, recent back-to-back bouts of cancer and ongoing radiotherapy complications notwithstanding, Book’s drive is so tireless that it’s become something of a reverential joke among many who interact with him.
—Max Klaver, Miami Herald, 20 Mar. 2025
While reverential to the brand’s history and its signature bravado, Puglisi brings a thoughtfulness to his work that his predecessors largely resisted.
—Ian Malone, Vogue, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reverential
Rachel Corbett, Vulture, 16 Apr. 2025
Inaba’s portrait of the human-feline relationship is reverential, an expression of devotion in its attention to detail.
—The New Yorker, New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2025
His age, recent back-to-back bouts of cancer and ongoing radiotherapy complications notwithstanding, Book’s drive is so tireless that it’s become something of a reverential joke among many who interact with him.
—Max Klaver, Miami Herald, 20 Mar. 2025
While reverential to the brand’s history and its signature bravado, Puglisi brings a thoughtfulness to his work that his predecessors largely resisted.
—Ian Malone, Vogue, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reverential
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reverential
Adjective
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Those healthy enough were put through a daily regimen of religious education and physical schooling intended to train them to be pious and obedient.—
Ann Foster,
JSTOR Daily,
9 July 2025
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Moyers’ preacher-like delivery and emphasis on high moral standards in his commentaries led some people to criticize him as being a pious scold.—
Stephen Battaglio,
Los Angeles Times,
27 June 2025
Adjective
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Some include strengthening academic and residential life and including more Jewish student representation; supporting belonging and promoting respectful dialogue; and updating campus use rules and other procedures.—
Nick Mordowanec,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 June 2025
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Her writing resonated with me as the father of a respectful, intelligent kid who may be stereotyped while wearing a black hoodie.—
Marshall Shepherd,
Forbes.com,
29 June 2025
Adjective
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The spiritual leader has not met a sitting US president since Barack Obama in 2016, after numerous visits to the White House since 1991.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
6 July 2025
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Ostensibly intended to protect a church’s autonomy in choosing its spiritual leaders, the exception has since been stretched into a catch-all excuse to deny employees of religious schools all kinds of legal recourse.—
A.J. Schumann,
Sun Sentinel,
6 July 2025
Adjective
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West's playing here is precise, reverent, never indulgent.—
Philip Martin,
Arkansas Online,
19 June 2025
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Craig is self-reflective while being appropriately reverent to the tropes of the genre.—
Katie Walsh,
Twin Cities,
9 May 2025
Adjective
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At the end of the day students from a religious order went back to the houses of their communities where professors from the order also lived and dined and prayed with them.—
Belinda Luscombe,
Time,
1 July 2025
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The Senate parliamentarian spiked the part of the proposal that would exempt religious institutions from the tax, which, Fansmith says, was part of an effort to exempt the very conservative Hillsdale College from the endowment tax.—
Emma Whitford,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
Adjective
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On Wednesday morning, the secretary-general followed up with a photo op alongside Trump; his language during the press conference was, if anything, even more worshipful.—
Susan B. Glasser,
New Yorker,
26 June 2025
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Conway, an Irishman like Fennell, rides a motorbike, inspires worshipful devotion in his crew, and can free-dive to extraordinary depths.—
Katy Waldman,
New Yorker,
19 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Reverential.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reverential. Accessed 12 Jul. 2025.
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