ˈpīəs adjective
Etymology: Latin pius; akin to Latin piare to appease, atone for, Oscan pihatu appeased, and perhaps to Latin purus pure — more at pure
1.
a. : marked by or showing reverence for deity and zealous devotion to the duties and rites of religion : devout
the pious Jewish historian, who saw in Israel's exile God's punishment for sin — J.G.Frazer
one society is genuinely pious , another is worldly-minded — A.L.Kroeber
pious practices such as attendance at daily mass — T.F.McNally
b. : marked by conspicuous religiosity
c. : of, relating to, or suggesting the sacred or devotional as distinct from the profane or secular : religious
pious papers devoted to the publication of … offerings made at sacred shrines — D.H.Wiest
a pious opinion
a pious hush in the atmosphere — Mary McCarthy
2. : marked by or showing loyal reverence for and faithfully performing the duties owed to a person or thing (as a family, school, cause) : dutiful
undertaking the pious task of writing the life of an ancestor — Times Literary Supplement
took me to pay a pious visit to my old school — A.T.Quiller-Couch
hangs on to his pious Marxianism — H.A.Overstreet
3. : perpetrated for a supposed good end
often the gap between the old rule and the new was bridged by a pious fraud of a fiction — B.N.Cardozo
4. : being or relating to a use that is legally a charitable use
5.
a. : characterized by pretense at propriety, virtue, benevolence, or devotion : given to or intended for the concealment of real feelings or intentions : marked by sham or hypocrisy
a world of arrogant acts accompanied by pious disclaimers — Rosemond Tuve
pious noble phrases about ideals which serve only to cover up … iniquity — M.R.Cohen
b. : marked by politic or self-conscious virtue : virtuous
sick of your pious penny-pinching — Marcia Davenport
put on pious expressions and were altogether very superior, if not stuffy — Edison Marshall
6. : deserving commendation : commendable , worthy
the pious practice of sifting the past twelve months' new books for gold — W.T.Scott
specifically : displaying an ideal, a benevolent wish, or a good intention
international law was scoffed at as pious but impotent — W.E.Jackson b. 1919
a pious hope
pious platitudes
Synonyms: see devout