1
as in pious
showing a devotion to God and to a life of virtue the holy monk spent many hours on his knees in prayer
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2
as in sacred
set apart or worthy of veneration by association with God the Torah contains the holy writings of Judaism
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3
as in divine
of, relating to, or being God the Holy Trinity
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4
as in pure
not to be violated, criticized, or tampered with the hour every Saturday she listens to her radio program is holy and you'd better not make her miss it
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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 holy This weekend, Father Matijevic said 18 people were baptized at holy name, and another 23 were confirmed. —
Marissa Sulek, CBS News, 6 Apr. 2026 The restrictions also dampened the recent Muslim holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr holiday, as well as the current weeklong Jewish festival of Passover. —Arkansas Online, 6 Apr. 2026 What a pall over the most holy week in the Christian calendar. —The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 5 Apr. 2026 The two bodies established diplomatic ties in 1993 but have periodically faced tensions over access to holy sites and the treatment of Christian communities. —Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 30 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for holy
Marissa Sulek, CBS News, 6 Apr. 2026 The restrictions also dampened the recent Muslim holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr holiday, as well as the current weeklong Jewish festival of Passover. —Arkansas Online, 6 Apr. 2026 What a pall over the most holy week in the Christian calendar. —The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 5 Apr. 2026 The two bodies established diplomatic ties in 1993 but have periodically faced tensions over access to holy sites and the treatment of Christian communities. —Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 30 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for holy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for holy
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As Mildred Layton, the pious pastor’s wife first played on screen by Kristin Chenoweth, Ana Gasteyer is in her element.— Dave Quinn, PEOPLE, 21 Apr. 2026
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The Colombian grandmother of my childhood summers was funny, mean, pious, and hard—despite being tremendously sensitive in her own way.— Adriana E. Ramírez, Literary Hub, 15 Apr. 2026
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Good luck is said to grace all pregnant women who visit this sacred space.— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Apr. 2026
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When his grandmother also falls ill and prepares to cross the Kuriyako, the sacred place where her people go to die, an ancestral presence arrives in the house, blurring the boundary between the living and the dead.— Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 20 Apr. 2026
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Speaking of divine intervention, Bobcats fans are no doubt praying for a first NAIA national football championship.— Walter Villa, Miami Herald, 16 Apr. 2026
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The secretary used the prayer to frame the war in Iran as an act of divine justice, the same justification Jackson’s character cites in the film before pulling the trigger.— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2026
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Cameroonian political analyst Collins Molua Ikome highlighted that the pope is primarily a religious authority.— Nimi Princewill, CNN Money, 22 Apr. 2026
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That entity’s origins have something to do with the Church located in the repressed, religious suburb Naim’s (Bird) just moved to with his mother, played by the brilliant Aussie actress Mia Wasikowska.— Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 22 Apr. 2026
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Leo presided over the service sitting off to the side of the altar on a white throne, wearing his formal red cape and liturgical stole and praying with a Rosary in his hands.— Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2026
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Although the pope celebrates mass regularly on Sundays, feast days, and many other occasions, the Urbi et Orbi blessing is much rarer, reserved for solemn events in the church’s liturgical calendar.— Leo XIV, Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Apr. 2026
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That’s to say, there’s earthly authority and there’s heavenly authority.— The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 14 Apr. 2026
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The half-industrial, half-heavenly record was recorded on the brink of a real-life meltdown; the substances Lean had rapped about so brazenly during his adolescent mixtape era would nearly claim his life.— Billie Bugara, Pitchfork, 1 Apr. 2026
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For svn4vr, a devout Christian whose music grapples with the demands of faith, the impulsive workflow conveys a religious fervor.— H.D. Angel, Pitchfork, 9 Apr. 2026
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Her earliest moments in the show have shades of a western—No Country for Old Men with a side of devout Trump supporters, sniffer dogs, petrifying cronies, and balloons stuffed with fentanyl and swallowed with lube.— Radhika Seth, Vogue, 9 Apr. 2026
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On Good Friday, there was a Yankees Opening Day game played in the afternoon hours, which coincided with this most blessed holiday.— Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 5 Apr. 2026
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April is a blessed month for genre fans, because as well as Thrash, Netflix is gifting us with another potentially-awesome-but-likely-terrible film with the survival thriller Apex, which premieres on April 24.— Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Holy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/thesaurus/holy. Accessed 24 Apr. 2026.
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