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saintliness

saintliness

1 7.4
Being very kind, patient, and seen as holy
  • noun
  • /ˈseɪntlinəs/
translation icon : santidad
  • James enables us to confront the variety and power of religious "experts"—examples of conversion, saintliness, and mysticism—and their collective ability to break the hold of dogmatism and skepticism.
  • saintliness and mysticism

Examples

  • He still felt troubled by the world around him, especially when people failed to see his saintliness or disagreed with him about what he thought was the truth.

    Blog text (5)
  • Although I might not think Christian saintliness or a Kantian good will particularly compelling, I can at least have those experiences (the experience of loving another as one loves oneself, or the immediate claim of honesty) that lead some to think of them as the telos of human life.

    Academic text (2003)
  • That is saintliness of the highest order, I think.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Change requires neither saintliness nor genius.

  • But, at least now, I have no illusions about his saintliness.

    Blog text (9)
  • Known as the "lady with the lamp," Nightingale combined saintliness with hygienic knowledge to produce the ideal of the modern nurse.

    Academic text (2002)
  • Sheep represent simplicity, sacrifice, innocence, saintliness, righteousness.

    Academic text (2004)
  • The development of the doctrine of purgatory enabled the layperson to cope with the ascetical ideal of saintliness by extending the time in which divine judgment could be worked out for the layperson.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Both James and Steiner point to the transformative experience of figures such as Buddha, Augustine, Eckhart, and Luther as evidence for a spiritual reality as the source of the kinds of religious experience that James refers to as conversion, saintliness, and mysticism.

    Academic text (1991)
  • The charity worker's saintliness inspired others to join her cause.

Synonyms

virtue
vssaintliness
259 3.8

A good personal quality like honesty or kindness

refers to a broader set of moral qualities combined with holiness
righteousness
vssaintliness
83 6.5

Being good and fair in how you act

includes holiness and a stronger sense of moral goodness beyond correctness
goodness
vssaintliness
82 1.0

Kind, honest, and fair behaviour in a person

adds sacred holiness and religiously linked virtues to moral character
holiness
vssaintliness
70 5.8

A state of being pure and close to God or to religious things

emphasizes moral virtues together with that spiritual purity
sanctity
vssaintliness
66 7.2

Being holy or sacred and treated with great respect

combines personal moral virtues with a sense of religious holiness
piety
vssaintliness
23 7.7

A strong religious feeling and respect that leads to regular prayer and kind actions

focuses more on moral goodness and holy character than devotion
godliness
vssaintliness
  • Literature
10 7.3

A deep religious feeling and strong respect for God

is about ethical virtues and holiness beyond personal devotion
sacredness
vssaintliness
5 5.8

A quality that makes people treat something with deep religious respect

stresses moral virtues and personal goodness beyond sacred importance
piousness
vssaintliness
1 7.9

A deep religious feeling shown in prayer and good deeds

emphasizes moral virtues and inner holiness rather than only devotion
sanctitude
vssaintliness
9.9

A state of being holy or sacred

includes moral goodness and virtues alongside that holy condition
sacrality
vssaintliness
  • Formal
9.9

Being holy or very important in a religion

adds moral virtue and religious goodness to a sacred status
venerableness
vssaintliness
  • Formal
9.2

Being worthy of respect because of age, wisdom, or importance

focuses on inner moral and holy qualities rather than public respect

How Virtuous

saintliness
1 7.4
holiness
70 5.8
virtue
259 3.8
goodness
82 1.0
kindness
297 1.0

Surface Forms

saintliness singular
saintlinesses plural

Morphology

saintliness = saintly (transparent) = saint + ly + ness

Formed by 'saint' -> 'saintly' (adjective) + '-ness' to denote the quality, a regular and predictable derivation.

Etymology

Saintliness comes from saint, a word for a very 'holy' person, which goes back to the old Latin word sanctus 'holy', and the ending -liness means 'the quality of being', as in kindness. So, saintliness is the quality of being saintly or holy.