Pious vs Righteous - What's the difference?
pious | righteous |
Of or pertaining to piety, exhibiting piety, devout, godfearing.
* 2014, (Paul Salopek), Blessed. Cursed. Claimed. , National Geographic (December 2014)[http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/12/pilgrim-roads/salopek-text]
free from sin or guilt
moral and virtuous, suggesting sanctimonious
justified morally
(slang, US) awesome
To make righteous; specifically, to justify religiously, to absolve from sin.
* 2009 , (Diarmaid MacCulloch), A History of Christianity , Penguin 2010, p. 101:
As adjectives the difference between pious and righteous
is that pious is of or pertaining to piety, exhibiting piety, devout, godfearing while righteous is free from sin or guilt.As a verb righteous is
to make righteous; specifically, to justify religiously, to absolve from sin.pious
English
Adjective
(-)- Its male residents dress like crows: heavy black suits, black Borsalino hats, the old grandfathers hugely whiskered and the boys in peot, the curled sidelocks of the pious .
Usage notes
* Sometimes used pejoratively, in the sense of "mistaken" or "false" piety, as in "pious errors", "pious frauds".Synonyms
* reverent, reverential, dutiful, religious, devout, godlyAntonyms
* (of or pertaining to piety) impious, independent, profaneDerived terms
* piously * piousnessrighteous
English
Alternative forms
* (l), (l)Adjective
(en adjective)Derived terms
* righteousness * self-righteousVerb
(es)- Thus for the purposes of being ‘righteoused ’, the Law was irrelevant; yet Paul could not bear to see all the Law disappear.