holy
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈhəʊli/
enpr: hōʹlē
ipa: /ˈhoʊli/
rhymes: -əʊli
homophone: wholly
homophone: holey (in accents without the wholly-holy split)
Forms: form: holier
form: holiest
form: holie
form: hooly
form: Holy
form: 'oly
Etymology: Inherited from Middle English holi, hali, from Old English hāliġ, hāleġ (“holy, consecrated, sacred, venerated, godly, saintly, ecclesiastical, pacific, tame”), from Proto-West Germanic *hailag, from Proto-Germanic *hailagaz (“holy, bringing health”), from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“healthy, whole”), from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilos (“healthy, whole”), equivalent to whole + -y and a doublet of later wholly.
Cognate with Scots haly (“holy”), West Frisian hillich (“holy”), Low German hillig (“holy”), Dutch heilig (“holy”), German heilig (“holy”), Danish hellig (“holy”), Swedish helig (“holy”). More at whole.
Senses: examples: text: I'm planning to visit the holy city of Jerusalem this Christmas.
text: ... where he and Basil read together poems and philosophies, and holier things, or talked low and misopogonistcally of their fellow-student Julian’s bearded boding smile were his happiest days.
ref: 1877, E.B. Browning, Some account of the Greek Christian poets, page 147:
text: The growing sense that more and more religious Jews are now worshiping openly at the holy site was given support by a report over the weekend on Israel’s Channel 12, which broadcast footage of Jewish prayer sessions and Torah lessons it said were being held there daily.
ref: 2021 July 20, Andrew Carey, “A fragile status quo on prayer rights at Jerusalem holy site comes under fresh strain”, in CNN:
text: “Through the Sacraments, God shares his holiness with us so that we, in turn, can make the world holier,” the conference says on its website.
ref: 2022 February 14, Chuck Johnston and Steve Almasy, “A pastor baptized people for decades using one wrong word. Now those are all considered invalid”, in CNN:
text: On Tuesday, a month since they were abducted, families of those kidnapped are expected to protest at the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem, the holiest site in Judaism, as well as at the Knesset, over what they say are inadequate efforts to reach a deal with Hamas to release their loved ones.
ref: 2023 November 6, Peter Beaumont, Bethan McKernan, “Israeli troops encircle Gaza City and expected to enter in force within 48 hours”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
glosses: Dedicated to a religious purpose or a god.
examples: text: This tree is considered holy in my culture.
glosses: Revered in a religion.
examples: text: My grandmother is a very holy woman.
glosses: Morally perfect or flawless, or nearly so.
glosses: Separated or set apart from (something unto something or someone else).
glosses: Set apart or dedicated for a specific purpose, or for use by a single entity or person.
examples: text: Holy cow, I can’t believe he actually lost the race!
text: Those children next door are holy terrors!
glosses: Used as an intensifier in various interjections.
Synonyms: sense: dedicated to a religious purpose or a god
word: sacred
sense: dedicated to a religious purpose or a god
word: godly
sense: revered in a religion
word: sacred
sense: revered in a religion
word: godly
sense: flawless
word: faultless
sense: flawless
word: flawless
sense: flawless
word: perfect
sense: separated or set apart from something
word: sanctified
sense: set apart or dedicated for a specific purpose
word: reserved
sense: set apart or dedicated for a specific purpose
word: special
Derived terms: by the holy poker
court holy bread
court holy water
Five Holy Wounds
for the love of all that is holy
halibut
halidom
holiday
holier-than-thou
holier than thou
holiest of holies
holily
Holiness
holiness
holinight
holy balls
holy bark
holy based
holy basil
Holy Bible
Holy Blood
Holy Body
holy bone
Holy Book
Holybourne
Holy Bread
Holybrook
holy bucket
holy buckets
holy cannoli
holy card
holy carp
holy catfish
holy cats
Holy Church
Holy Communion
Holy Corner
holy cow
holy crap
holy crap on a cracker
holy crap on a stick
holy cricket
holy crickets
Holy Cross
Holycross
holy cross
holy cross frog
holy crow
holy crud
holy damn
holy day
holyday
holy day of obligation
holy doodle
Holy Eucharist
Holy Family
Holy Father
Holyfield
holy fire
holy flax
holy fool
Holy Foreskin
Holy Friday
holy fuck
holy fudge
holy genocide
Holy Ghost
holy grail
Holy Grail
holy grass
holy guacamole
holy hand grenade
holy Hannah
Holyhead
holy hell
holy hour
holyish
Holy Island
holy kamoley
holy kamoly
Holy Koran
Holy Liturgy
Holy Loch
holy macaroni
holy mackerel
holy man
holy matrimony
holy moley
holy moly
Holy Monday
holy Moses
Holy Mother
Holy Mother Church
holy mother of based
Holy Mother of God
Holyoak
Holy of Holies
holy orders
holy piss
holy poke
Holy Prepuce
Holy Qur'an
Holy Quran
Holy Qurbana
Holy Qurbono
Holy Qur’an
holy ravioli
Holy Redeemer
Holy Roman Empire
holy rood
Holyrood
Holy Rood
holy Sabbath
holy sabbath
Holy Sabbath
Holy Sacrifice
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
Holy Saturday
holy Scripture
Holy Scripture
holy scripture
holy Scriptures
holy scriptures
Holy Scriptures
Holy See
Holy Sepulcher
Holy Sepulchre
holy shamoley
holy shit
holy shmoly
holy show
Holy Shroud
holy smoke
holy smokes
holy snakes
Holy Spirit
holy spirit
holystone
holy stromboli
Holy Sunday
Holy Sunday Church
Holy Synod
holy synod
holy terror
Holy Thursday
holy Toledo
Holy Trinity
holy Trinity
holy trinity
Holy Tuesday
holy unblack metal
Holy Vedas
holy war
holy water
holy-water sprinkle
holy water sprinkler
Holy Wednesday
Holy Week
Holywell
Holywood
holy writ
Holy Writ
holy year
in the name of all that is holy
Mount of the Holy Cross
nonholy
overholy
pope-holy
Stoke Holy Cross
take holy orders
Related terms: hallow
hallowed