holy
- adjective
- /ˈhoʊli/
- In desperation, his mother sprinkled holy water from Lourdes around his hospital room.
- Holy Spirit
- Holy Land
- Holy See
There is a Surah in the Koran, which is the holy book for Muslims.
- There is a Surah in the Koran, which is the holy book for Muslims.
- Now Trump's allies are taking their holy war to the MAGA Mecca Newsmax.
- And today we are here to talk about joining together in holy matrimony weddings.
- So they turn them into these holy objects and that's, that's it for them.
Examples
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Jacques, disgusted with his father's sentimental laxity, enters into holy orders and becomes a Catholic.
Academic text (1990) -
There's something very, very profoundly holy in rest.
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No weapons allowed in Holy City.
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According to God's holy law.
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Many religions would consider his blood holy.
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They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.
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OK, But what you got to remember is God is holy, morally perfect.
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Jerusalem is a holy site, not only for Judaism and Islam, but also for Christianity.
Academic text (2011) -
There lay the preserved body of a pope in holy robes, Leo XIII, 1810-1903.
Fiction book (1991) -
The church was built on a holy site, where many pilgrims come to pray.
Synonyms
Connected to religion and treated with great respect
Relating to God or a god
Viewed as holy and worthy of worship in a religion
People treat a place or thing as very holy and deserving great respect
A religious ceremony makes something holy and sets it apart for worship
Made holy and set apart for religious use
Antonyms
Idioms
Compounds
The presence of God that Christians believe works in the world to guide and comfort people
Water a religious leader blesses and people use in a ceremony to make people and things clean and safe
A region east of the Mediterranean Sea, mainly Israel and Palestine, that is sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims
- Formal
The Pope's government that speaks for the Roman Catholic Church and acts like a small country
- Formal
A Christian ceremony when people eat bread and drink wine to remember the Last Supper
- Formal
The central government of the Roman Catholic Church that the Pope leads in Vatican City, recognized by many countries
- Slur
A Christian who worships with loud, joyful actions like shouting, dancing, or rolling on the floor
One of the two most important Jewish holy days, when Jewish people pray and sometimes fast
A group of many states in central Europe that an emperor ruled from 962 to 1806
- Formal
A Christian ceremony when people bless and eat bread and wine to remember Jesus' Last Supper
The tomb where Christians believe Jesus was placed after his crucifixion and before his resurrection
- Literature
The innermost sacred room of the ancient Jewish Temple where the Ark was kept
A person people respect for being very religious and thought to help others with prayer
- Literature
A sacred, perfect place like Heaven where God lives, often in Christian writing
- Formal
A religious ceremony where Christians bless bread and wine to remember Jesus' Last Supper
A tall plant with spiky leaves, white marks, and purple flower heads used in herbal medicine
- Formal
A special Catholic year when people can receive forgiveness and special blessings
An armed Islamic group that carries out attacks in Kashmir to make it part of Pakistan
- Formal
A Christian day on December 28 that remembers the children King Herod killed in Bethlehem
- UK
A plant with pale pink flowers that farmers grow for animal feed and to attract bees
A section added to the Book of Daniel containing a prayer and a song by three young men
How Holy
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word holy comes from an old English root hāl meaning 'whole' or 'healthy'. A helpful way to remember this is to think of 'whole' things as complete and set apart from the ordinary, so holy came to mean 'sacred' or 'connected to a god'.