pharisaical
1
9.9
- adjective
- /ˌfɛrəˈseɪɪkəl/
- Offensive
:
farisaico
- The committee's pharisaical insistence on following every rule to the letter seemed hypocritical considering their own past violations.
Examples
-
From the pew where I sit, however, it is a cold-hearted, pharisaical action that privileges the letter over the Spirit, which will only result in stamping out any meaningful future for this Church that so many of us love in spite of feeling unloved by it.
Blog text (21) -
Too many have become pharisaical in wanting to only be able to say they changed a law.
Blog text (27) -
It seems like most everything falls into some pharisaical category or another.
Blog text (17) -
Among us Europeans who were traveling together in America, there rose up repeatedly this pharisaical feeling: we all have something that you lack; we admire your strength but we do not envy you.
Academic text (1990) -
What's to stop someone from labeling Osborne as a Pharisee for pointing out so many pharisaical traits?
Blog text (17) -
When I re-read my comment, it sounded very pharisaical... and I certainly don't want to give the appearance that I have the same mindset that caused me and my family so much heartache.
Blog text (5) -
Essentially, the response of her critics is this pharisaical parsing of her words meant to question her patriotism, when in fact the sentiment is shared by many: the sense that we are getting out from under a burden of years of the tyranny of low expectations.
Blog text (31) -
His pharisaical attitude toward others' beliefs often alienated them from joining the discussion.
-
She criticized her coworkers for their pharisaical behavior, acting as if they were morally superior while being just as flawed.
Synonyms
83
6.1
Acting like you have strong moral rules when you do not follow them
55
7.8
Thinking you are better than other people about right and wrong and judging them
23
8.5
Acting as if you are morally better than other people
8
7.2
Strict about right and wrong and often judges other people
5
8.7
Acting as if morally better than other people
2
8.2
Behaving as if you are better than others to show you are good
Pretending to be morally better while judging others
Showing false moral pride and judging others harshly
Pretending to be very religious to seem morally better than others
Showing false religious feeling to seem very religious
Antonyms
How Hypocritical
- Offensive
1
9.9
23
8.5
83
6.1
55
7.8
19
4.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
pharisaical = Pharisee (opaque) = pharisa + ical
The connection to 'Pharisee' is not immediately apparent to learners unfamiliar with the historical context.
Etymology
Pharisaical comes from the Pharisees, a group in the Bible who tried to be very religious and set themselves 'apart' from others, and were often seen as showing religion only on the outside. So pharisaical means being hypocritically self‑righteous or pretending to be morally better than others.