Legal Writing

Words to Describe Degrees of Religiosity

By Maeve

With the topic of religion so much in the air, writers may have use for adjectives to describe various degrees of religious feeling and behavior.

The following words have other meanings, but here the focus is on their use to describe people.

religious - “dedicated to religious practice; observant practitioner of a particular religion.” The word derives from Latin, possibly the verb religare, “to tie back.” The word may carry negative connotations for individuals, (Bill Maher, for example), but in general it is a good all-purpose word, in itself neither positive nor negative.

pious - in earlier writers, pious was used in a positive sense of loyalty to religion, family, and those things for which a person might be expected to feel reverence. Current usage tends to tinge the word with hypocrisy. Ex. His pious remarks about family values concealed the fact that he was sleeping with his neighbor’s wife.

godly - pleasing to God. One speaks of a godly person or a godly life. The negative, ungodly, is often used as a term of contempt by religious people to describe anything contrary to their beliefs.

fervent - derives from a Latin word meaning “to boil” or “to be very hot.” A fervent person is one that feels very intensely about a subject. The subject does not need to be religious in nature. One can be a fervent Catholic, or a fervent environmentalist. Or both.

zealous- This adjective derives from the noun Zealot. The Zealots were members of the sect that worked to drive the Romans out of Palestine during the First Century. They were fanatics who resorted to assassination and other acts of terrorism that eventually resulted in the destruction of the Temple and the expulsion of the Jews from Jerusalem. Zealous, therefore, can carry the sense of intense fanaticism that will stop at nothing to promote its cause.

devout - from the verb devote, “to set apart.” The word connotes a sense of consecration. A devout person practices religion from genuine feeling of reverence for the object of worship.

sanctimonious - Until the 1800s, this word had a positive connotation. It derives from the Latin word for “holy.” A sanctimonious life could be one that reflects good deeds and devout religious observance. In current usage, however, sanctimonious carries the sense of hypocrisy. Indeed, a common expression is “sanctimonious hypocrite.” A sanctimonious person is like the Pharisee who prays and gives alms in public so that everyone can admire him for it. A sanctimonious person is always reminding people of their shortcomings.

fanatic- This word, which also gives us the word “fan” as in “movie fan,” comes from Latin fanaticus which had a religious sense. A fanum was a temple where sometimes very wild manifestations of devotion took place. For example, worshippers inspired to a frenzy by the god might cut themselves. A “fanatic” therefore, is out of control, at least as regards a particular subject. Winston Churchill defined a fanatic as “someone who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.”

Words to Describe Degrees of Religiosity

Full post as published by Daily Writing Tips on November 13, 2008 (boomark / email).