1
as in loyal
firm in one's allegiance to someone or something
a pious supporter of his school's athletic teams, during winning and losing seasons alike
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in devout
showing a devotion to God and to a life of virtue
a pious woman who decided to become a nun
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pious
The pious townspeople eat food for sustenance, not enjoyment, and for over a decade Babette dutifully prepares a rather drab-looking bread soup for the sisters, per their instructions.
—
Eliana Dockterman, TIME, 21 Dec. 2024
And yet something about her pious active listening face really gets to Urs.
—Caroline Framke, Vulture, 20 Nov. 2024
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
Like his father, the junior Winthrop was a pious Christian.
—Ed Simon, TIME, 31 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pious 
Eliana Dockterman, TIME, 21 Dec. 2024
And yet something about her pious active listening face really gets to Urs.
—Caroline Framke, Vulture, 20 Nov. 2024
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
Like his father, the junior Winthrop was a pious Christian.
—Ed Simon, TIME, 31 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pious
Adjective
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After Orban became prime minister in 2010, his government stripped public employees of key civil service protections, fired thousands, and replaced them with loyal members of the ruling Fidesz party.—
STEVEN LEVITSKY,
Foreign Affairs,
11 Feb. 2025
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Rhames will play Tanker, Fang’s loyal right hand who was the second-in-command of Fang’s Special Forces squad when they were captured in Afghanistan.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
11 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Her father, a devout Catholic, later took the throne as James II.—
Sarah Holzmann,
Smithsonian Magazine,
13 Feb. 2025
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Benson, a devout Catholic and close friend of local Archbishop Gregory Aymond, shared Bensel’s offer to help Aymond prepare for the fallout, according to the reports.—
Mark Puleo,
The Athletic,
4 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Amid recent efforts to challenge, or in some cases, completely erase the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), the National Football League (NFL) remains steadfast in its commitment to embracing and celebrating all people.—
John Lawson,
Essence,
10 Feb. 2025
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Universal Music Group has remained steadfast in their claims that there was no foul play involved with the record and its popularity was simply, organically due to the quality of the song.—
Armon Sadler,
VIBE.com,
10 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Trump supporters say that such policies – which the Education Department indirectly supported by expanding Title IX gender protections in 2024 to include discrimination based on gender identity – are at odds with parental school choice rights or, for some religious conservatives, the Bible.—
Alex Hinton,
The Conversation,
7 Feb. 2025
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Rome allowed local religious authorities some measure of influence and control, and in this city, that was the Jewish council who oversaw religious life.—
Lynne Silva-Breen,
Twin Cities,
7 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The three staunch supporters of Kyiv stopped purchases of power from Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but have relied on the Russian grid to control frequencies and stabilize networks to avoid outages.—
Reuters,
CNN,
9 Feb. 2025
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Over the years, Cruise’s staunch devotion to his stunt work has led him to jaw-dropping moments — and several injuries.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
8 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
His live version from Live at Sin-e is a reverent prayer, as spiritual, sensual and truthful as any song will ever hear.—
Steve Baltin,
Forbes,
23 Jan. 2025
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Lying underneath a reverent mural of George Washington, Carter’s casket was surrounded by a silent crowd of mourners and military guards.—
Christopher Cann,
USA TODAY,
9 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Sarah Michelle Gellar promises fans a faithful reboot is underway.—
Andrew J. Campa,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Feb. 2025
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The short trail passes faithful re-creations of domed huts and paperbark canoes, offering a glimpse of how the Indigenous Needwonnee people lived and cultivated the land.—
Justin Meneguzzi,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Who knew that banning books, paying teachers pitiful salaries and threatening them with jail if they were caught with salacious book titles would be the holy grail of student success?—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
11 Feb. 2025
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The government even organized helicopters to shower flower petals on the saints and seers taking a holy dip.—
Kyra Colah,
Fox News,
8 Feb. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near pious
Cite this Entry
“Pious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pious. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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