as in pious
showing a devotion to God and to a life of virtue
a saintly man who devoted his life to caring for the dying
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Recent Examples of saintly
Older Rita is still self-possessed but, as written, there’s a distance that smooths the edges, turns her into a saintly figure and saps the character of the charge that keeps someone married for decades.
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Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Feb. 2024
Many of these are of a morbid cast, relics in the saintly sense.
—Brett Martin, New York Times, 28 Nov. 2023
These women are not just queens and princesses, but also vestal virgins and whores, traitors and patriots, saintly martyrs, savvy businesswomen, informers, poets, and rebels.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 8 Nov. 2023
Otherwise, this absorbing if uneven historical fantasy about Martin Luther King Jr.’s final night is at its best when rooted in reality — reveling in a saintly figure’s unguarded moments and uncomfortable foibles.
—Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 17 Oct. 2023
See all Example Sentences for saintly 
Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Feb. 2024
Many of these are of a morbid cast, relics in the saintly sense.
—Brett Martin, New York Times, 28 Nov. 2023
These women are not just queens and princesses, but also vestal virgins and whores, traitors and patriots, saintly martyrs, savvy businesswomen, informers, poets, and rebels.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 8 Nov. 2023
Otherwise, this absorbing if uneven historical fantasy about Martin Luther King Jr.’s final night is at its best when rooted in reality — reveling in a saintly figure’s unguarded moments and uncomfortable foibles.
—Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 17 Oct. 2023
See all Example Sentences for saintly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for saintly
Adjective
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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
Adjective
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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
Adjective
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Social psychology experiments show that people often cope with the specter of death by attaching themselves to cultural ideologies, such as religious, political, or even sports fandom.Discover Magazine, Discover Magazine, 8 Nov. 2024
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Stationed in Puerto Rico as a postal clerk, Lee—who has never been religious—walked by a small church located on base one afternoon and decided to go in.Charles Moss, SPIN, 5 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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This one could be like Intel in the 1990s, a stock that had one of the most sainted trajectories, rivaled and now exceeded by that of Club stock Nvidia.Jim Cramer, CNBC, 27 Oct. 2024
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Lorne Michaels is the out-of-touch one, and Jim Henson is essentially sainted.Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 20 Sep. 2024
Adjective
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On social media, the holy grail of Frye boot finds are the pairs that have been passed down over generations.Sam Reed, Glamour, 31 Oct. 2024
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In Hollywood's relentless pursuit of reliable box office returns, pre-existing intellectual property has become the holy grail.Damion Taylor, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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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 saintly
Cite this Entry
“Saintly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/saintly. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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