sanctimony
/ˈsæŋk.tɪ.mə.ni/
"sanctimony" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sanctimony” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A hypocritical form of excessive piety, considered to be an affectation merely for public show.
Corpus desk
Index EN-sanctimony · sanctimony · English
sanctimony · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sanctimony |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsæŋk.tɪ.mə.ni/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “sanctimony” in English
Rare enough to double-check
sanctimony is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈsæŋk.tɪ.mə.ni/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for sanctimony, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French sanctimonie, from Latin sānctimōnia (“sanctity, sacredness; purity, chastity”), from sanctus (“holy”) + -monia (“action or result of an action”). The correct English form is sanctimony, spelled S-A-N-C-T-I-M-O-N-Y.
Definition
- 1A hypocritical form of excessive piety, considered to be an affectation merely for public show.
- 2A state of holiness.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how sanctimony appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
At its best[…] “The Newsroom” has a wit, sophistication and manic energy that recalls James L. Brooks’s classic movie “Broadcast News.” But at its worst, the show chokes on its own sanctimony.
Etymology
From Middle French sanctimonie, from Latin sānctimōnia (“sanctity, sacredness; purity, chastity”), from sanctus (“holy”) + -monia (“action or result of an action”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.