noun
piety
PEYE-ih-tee
noun
1
Deep devotion and respect toward God or religious duty.
"Her piety was evident in her daily prayers."
2
A conventional, often shallow statement of virtue.
"The politician's speech was full of empty pieties."
How to Use Piety
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishReligious devotion, or (informally) a hollow show of virtue.
Common mistake
Don't confuse with "pity" (compassion for suffering) — they share a Latin root but mean different things today.
Easily confused with
Common pairings
religious piety
empty piety
filial piety
Word Forms
pieties plural
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Her _____ was evident in her daily prayers.
Etymology
From Latin pietas, meaning devotion or dutifulness — a doublet of "pity".