different between sanctimonious vs unctuous

English

Etymology

sanctimony +? -ous

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?sæ?k.t??m??.ni.?s/, /?sæ?k.t??m??.ni.?s/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?sæ?k.t??mo?.ni.?s/, /?sæ?k.t??mo?.ni.?s/

Adjective

sanctimonious (comparative more sanctimonious, superlative most sanctimonious)

1. Making a show of being morally better than others, especially hypocritically pious.
   • 1623, William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act I, scene ii:

     Thou conclud'st like the sanctimonious pirate, that went to sea with the Ten Commandements, but scrap'd one out of the table.

   • 2007, Alan Farrell, High Cheekbones, Pouty Lips, Tight Jeans, Lulu.com (?ISBN), page 77:

     It'd be easy to write off Michael Moore as a fat, scruffy, sanctimonious Bolchevik poseur (actually, I do write off Michael Moore as a fat, scruffy, sanctimonious Bolchevik poseur) but the fact is that there's about five minutes of cleverness in this […]

   • 2013, Ronald F. Marshall, Kierkegaard for the Church: Essays and Sermons, Wipf and Stock Publishers (?ISBN), page 333:

     And this is indeed needed, since we who consider these awkward Christian ideas are but fearful, sanctimonious people, as Kierkegaard once put it so passionately: O, you sanctimonious people with your love which does not set you apart […]

2. (archaic) Holy, devout.

Derived terms

• sanctimoniously
• sanctimoniousness
• sanctimony

Translations

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin unctu?sus (“oily”), from Latin unctum, from unguere, ungere (“to anoint”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??nkt?u?s/
• Hyphenation: unc?tu?ous

Adjective

unctuous (comparative more unctuous, superlative most unctuous)

1. (of a liquid or substance) Oily or greasy.
2. (of a wine, coffee, sauce, gravy etc.) Rich, lush, intense, with layers of concentrated, soft, velvety flavor.
3. (by extension, of a person) Profusely polite, especially unpleasantly so and insincerely earnest.
   • 1857, Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers, Volume the Second, page 14 ?ISBN

     Then he thoroughly disliked the tone of Mr. Slope's letter; it was unctuous, false, and unwholesome, like the man.

Synonyms

• (of a liquid): oleaginous, saponaceous, slimy; see also Thesaurus:unctuous
• (of wine, coffee, sauce, gravy etc.): savorous
• (profusely, especially unpleasantly, polite): creepy, effusive, groveling, oleaginous, slimy, sycophantic; see also Thesaurus:sycophantic

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• unctuous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• unctuous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• unctuous at OneLook Dictionary Search