PIOUS Synonyms: 122 Similar and Opposite Words

pious

adjective

ˈpī-əs

Definition of pious

as in steadfast

firm in one's allegiance to someone or something a pious supporter of his school's athletic teams, during winning and losing seasons alike

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in devout

showing a devotion to God and to a life of virtue a pious woman who decided to become a nun

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of pious However, this distinction did more than pit pious Americans against an atheist enemy. — David Williamson, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 June 2026 In Wake-Keeper (2026), a roughly four-by-five-foot canvas, a pious man draped in the red cloth of traditional Ghanaian funeral attire sits on a stool with his hands clasped, his body facing the left side of the frame. — Lovia Gyarkye, The New York Review of Books, 6 June 2026 The aim wasn’t to make the chatbot Bible-thumping or pious. — Chris Stokel-Walker, Scientific American, 26 May 2026 Maria, austere and deeply pious, runs the business with an iron hand, obsessed with making the family’s origins forgotten. — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 14 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for pious

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pious

Adjective

King Edward, who ruled from 1901 until his death in 1910, had a wire-haired fox terrier named Caesar, who was his steadfast companion.

— Audrey Schmidt, PEOPLE, 9 Aug. 2026
Musk remaind steadfast in his ambitious vision for the company, from orbital data centers to a fleet of humanoid robots that would enable large scale manufacturing on the surface of the Moon.

— Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of steadfast

Adjective

Adenauer, De Gasperi, and Schuman were all devout Catholics, and Monnet, though not a religious man, was born into a pious Catholic family.

— Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026
According to Warburton, Barbara shared her husband's devout Catholic faith and his strong disapproval of their son's most popular shows.

— Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 8 Aug. 2026

Definition of devout

Adjective

Founders who focus exclusively on maximizing price may overlook the factors that determine whether employees thrive, customers remain loyal and the business continues to grow after the transaction closes.

— Amit Jain, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Progressive streamer Hasan Piker has amassed millions of followers on social media for his daily live streams, which often last up to eight hours, giving him the unique ability to connect Democratic candidates with his loyal following.

— Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of loyal

Adjective

Daurawa said all the couples had undergone screening and counseling before the ceremony and that all religious and legal requirements had been fulfilled.

— ABC News, ABC News, 8 Aug. 2026
The city today is excluded from hosting hundreds of religious, political, labor, sports and industry events each year due to lack of hotel beds.

— Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 8 Aug. 2026

Definition of religious

Adjective

As Alice, Reynolds is the team’s staunchest protector even as Ted serves as head coach.

— Sabienna Bowman, PEOPLE, 5 Aug. 2026
Hoskins, a Republican and staunch supporter of the map, said that the Missouri Constitution does not expressly give voters the right to hold a referendum on congressional redistricting.

— Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of staunch

Adjective

These movies always run the risk of being overly reverent, and for better and worse, Johnson’s take on Bourdain’s formative years is not concerned with reverence.

— David Fear, Rolling Stone, 5 Aug. 2026
The Lost Boys gave us the chance to create something that feels reverent toward the film while still staking its own claim.

— Shivani Vora, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026

Definition of reverent

Adjective

What began as a more faithful attempt at recreating Shakespearean verse gradually evolved as the team tried to figure out how to make something that spoke to then-contemporary anxieties.

— Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 8 Aug. 2026
Many thought that these books were unadaptable, but these movies have turned out wonderfully and are surprisingly faithful to the host work.

— Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of faithful

Adjective

But Schleien considers official pietism—the theocratic strictures, the holy geographies, and Iron Age notions of vengeance—a threat in its own right, and one that exacerbates various security crises.

— Bernard Avishai, New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2026
As well as being home to Islam’s holiest sites, Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s top oil exporters.

— Sophia Saifi, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of holy

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pioneers

pious

piousness

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“Pious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pious. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of pious

adjective

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