Sanctimonie

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A showy and insincere display of religious devotion or moral superiority meant to impress others
2. Pretended holiness or piety, put on to appear more virtuous than one truly is
3. The affectation of religious or moral goodness, often used to disguise a lack of genuine principle

Etymology: Latin "sanctimonia" meant holiness, purity or sacred integrity. It was built from "sanctus", holy, plus a suffix denoting a quality. English took the word from Anglo-French, where it kept the same religious sense, and a close relative, "sanctimonial", still means nun-like. The modern sting comes from a reversal. Holiness that was displayed rather than felt came to be called by the same name, and the word shifted to mean a pretence of virtue: piety put on for show, usually to impress others. Its mockery lies in that gap between appearance and inner goodness.