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holy definition

holy (hō′lē)

adjective holier -·lier, holiest -·li·est

  1. dedicated to religious use; belonging to or coming from God; consecrated; sacred
  2. spiritually perfect or pure; untainted by evil or sin; sinless; saintly
  3. regarded with or deserving deep respect, awe, reverence, or adoration
  4. ☆ Slang very much of a: a generalized intensive a holy terror

Etymology: ME holie < OE halig (akin to Ger heilig) < base of OE hal, sound, happy, whole: first used in OE as transl. of L sacer, sanctus, in the Vulg.

noun pl. holies -·lies

a holy thing or place

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

holy Synonyms

holy

modif.

  1. Divine

    sacred, divine, consecrated; see divine 2.

  2. Sinless

    devout, pious, blessed, righteous, moral, just, good, angelic, godly, venerable, immaculate, pure, spotless, clean, blameless, humble, saintly, guileless, innocent, godlike, saintlike, perfect, faultless, uncorrupt, undefiled, untainted, chaste, upright, virtuous, incorrupt, revered, dedicated to the service of God, sainted, heaven-sent, believing, heavenly minded, profoundly good, sanctified, inviolable, devotional, reverent, pietistic, spiritual, unstained, unworldly, pure in heart, zealous, seraphic, dedicated, rightminded, unspotted; see also faithful, religious 2.

    Antonyms evil, wicked*, sinful. *

  3. Associated with a deity, especially with Christ; often capitalized

    Apostolic, Almighty, Omnipotent, True, Good, Eternal, Infinite, Blessed, Merciful. See syn. study at divine.divine.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

holy Usage Examples

Preposition: than

  • thou: No, there must not be a " holier than thou " attitude.

Used with adjective complement

  • keep: Above all may we have grace given us to reverence and keep holy the Sabbath day amid so much awful and general desecration.

Modifies a noun

  • grail: Red Giant gave us the holy grail of editing - turning video into film.

Modifying Another Word

  • infinitely: The same offense may be a serious thing to you, it is a far more serious thing to an infinitely holy God.

Preposition: than

  • blood: Philo explains that the offerings of frankincense laid on the golden altar in the Inner Temple were more holy than the blood offered outside.
holy usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

holy quotes

Quand me"  me Dieu n'existerait pas, la religion serait encore sainte et divineöDieu est le seul e"  tre qui, pour re¤  gner, n'ait me"  me pas besoin d'exister. Even if God did not exist, religion would still be holyand divine.God isthe only being who, inorder toreign, need not even exist.

-Baudelaire, Charles

   And he said,Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

-Bible (Old Testament)

For I am the L your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

-Bible (Old Testament)

holy quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"holy." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
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holy. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/holy

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