1
as in pious
showing a devotion to God and to a life of virtue
the holy monk spent many hours on his knees in prayer
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2
as in sacred
set apart or worthy of veneration by association with God
the Torah contains the holy writings of Judaism
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3
as in divine
of, relating to, or being God
the Holy Trinity
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4
as in pure
not to be violated, criticized, or tampered with
the hour every Saturday she listens to her radio program is holy and you'd better not make her miss it
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of holy
Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement in the Jewish faith and is considered the holiest of Judaism's two High Holy Days — the other is Rosh Hashanah, the New Year celebration.
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Taylor Seely, The Arizona Republic, 14 Oct. 2024
Bio-Oil Skincare Oil $61 $47 Amazon Known for reducing the appearance of stretch marks and acne scars, Bio-Oil is a holy grail product.
—Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 9 Oct. 2024
For a subjective field like fashion, a business driven by tastes and preferences, personalization is the holy grail.
—Adriana Lee, WWD, 20 Oct. 2024
Today, however, the holy grail that is drawing billions of AI investment dollars is autonomy that goes beyond a machine writing its own code to solve a problem set for it by humans.
—Gillian Hadfield, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for holy 
Taylor Seely, The Arizona Republic, 14 Oct. 2024
Bio-Oil Skincare Oil $61 $47 Amazon Known for reducing the appearance of stretch marks and acne scars, Bio-Oil is a holy grail product.
—Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 9 Oct. 2024
For a subjective field like fashion, a business driven by tastes and preferences, personalization is the holy grail.
—Adriana Lee, WWD, 20 Oct. 2024
Today, however, the holy grail that is drawing billions of AI investment dollars is autonomy that goes beyond a machine writing its own code to solve a problem set for it by humans.
—Gillian Hadfield, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for holy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for holy
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Paxton, pious to the end, responds by talking about the Great Prayer Experiment, a (very real) series of studies that sought to test whether prayer has any tangible healing impact — and conclusively found there to be not.Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 8 Nov. 2024
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Like his father, the junior Winthrop was a pious Christian.Ed Simon, TIME, 31 Oct. 2024
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Torii gates are iconic structures that mark the boundary between the everyday and the sacred at Shinto shrines across Japan.Arata Yamamoto, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2024
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Russia has also breached a sacred tenet of nuclear security by launching attacks against Ukraine from military bases that store nuclear warheads, thus making those bases a legitimate target for counteroffensives.William M. Moon, Foreign Affairs, 5 Nov. 2024
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But their partnership begins to fray when a divine spirit informs Sister Deborah that a Black woman, not a Black Jesus, will save them.Tope Folarin, The Atlantic, 21 Nov. 2024
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The food was divine (Isle of Wight tomatoes!), the decor magical.Jackie Burrell, The Mercury News, 11 Nov. 2024
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Consistent with the religious theme of God as love, the Bible contains unending comfort from God and God’s agents not to be afraid.Walt Shelton, Austin American-Statesman, 22 Nov. 2024
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McGuigan’s cover of the religious standard, given a wide release earlier this month, has been used in a variety of ways on TikTok, from post-U.S.-election content to sports teams’ uploads and much more.Kevin Rutherford, Billboard, 21 Nov. 2024
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For ultra luxury, the Château Saint-Martin is a heavenly retreat recently nominated for a number of awards, including France's Best Hotel Spa 2024.Alexandra Zagalsky, theweek, 1 Nov. 2024
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Matthew Perry joins a heavenly chorus of pop stars—including Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury and Whitney Houston—as the greatest earners in the great beyond.Lisette Voytko-Best, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024
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Here, the Pacifica played with devout focus, bringing us into the territory of late Beethoven and late Shostakovich.Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024
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But that is exactly what the 72-year-old devout Catholic and grandmother has become to some in this northern California county — which has been convulsed by conspiracy theories about voter fraud and other extremist ideologies over the last three years.Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2024
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The sidewalks will approximately double in width, with another band of space given over to tree pits, supplying a blessed bit of shade.Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 17 Oct. 2024
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From anger to mourning to sadness to gratefulness to even feeling blessed to be able to sit here and write this post, processing the reasons behind September 4th will be a long road which will most likely, never be truly understood.Emily Shapiro, ABC News, 16 Sep. 2024
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At the center on one side was a life-size Virgin holding the Child, surrounded by 40 reverent haloed figures.Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 18 Oct. 2024
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Beethoven would hardly recognize our concert-going culture, in which people sit in reverent silence, then clap politely and go home.Justin Davidson, Curbed, 16 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near holy
Cite this Entry
“Holy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/holy. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
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