self-righteous
adjEtymology From self- + righteous.
1
Piously self-assured and smugly moralistic.
- Near-synonyms: smug, complacent; sanctimonious
- And is it not possible, Mr. Hier, that people are reacting (in a contemptible way, certainly) against your self-righteous bawling?2003 August 16, vjmorton, “Not-so-brave heart”, in Rightwing Film Geek:
1 more example
- “God's blood, Thomas, self-righteous prickery is not the preserve of the English!”2017, Jules Radcliffe, Penitent Pirate:
2
Patronizingly moralizing and rebuking.
- Synonyms
- holier-than-thou
- Derived terms
- self-righteously, self-righteousness
- Related terms
- virtue signalling