Meaning & use
holy
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparablereligion
Connected with God or a religion, or treated with deep respect because it belongs to worship.
Grammar: Goes before a noun (a holy place) or after be (the temple is holy); holier and holiest are used.
Patterns
- holy to someone
- a holy place
- a holy book
Jerusalem is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims.
Pilgrims removed their shoes before entering the holy shrine.
The family kept the holy book on a shelf of its own.
adjectivecomparable
Living a life that is morally pure and devoted to God.
Grammar: Describes a person: a holy man; it can sound old-fashioned or slightly mocking when used of everyday people.
Patterns
- a holy man
- lead a holy life
The villagers described the old monk as a truly holy man.
She led a holy life of prayer and service.
He was never a holy person, but he tried to be kind.
adjectivebefore a nouninformal
Used before another word in informal exclamations to show surprise or shock.
Grammar: Only appears in fixed exclamations such as holy cow, with no literal religious meaning.
Patterns
- holy cow
- holy moly
- holy smoke
Holy cow, that was the fastest lap I have ever seen!
Holy moly, look at the size of that cake!
Holy smoke, we nearly missed the train.
Word forms
| comparative | holier |
|---|---|
| superlative | holiest |
Common combinations
- holy ground
- Veterans regard the battlefield as holy ground.
- holy water
- She dipped her fingers in the holy water at the church door.
- holy day
- The shop closes on every holy day.
- the Holy Land
- They saved for years to travel to the Holy Land.
- holy war
- Historians debate how the crusades were presented as a holy war.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sacred
- Sacred is wider than holy, because it can describe anything treated with deep respect, such as a promise, while holy points to God or religion.
- divine
- Divine means coming from or like a god, whereas holy describes things set apart for worship.
- blessed
- Blessed suggests having received divine favor, while holy suggests belonging to the sacred.
- saintly
- Saintly describes a person with the goodness of a saint, a narrower use than holy.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: holy or wholly? holy or holey?
holy vs wholly
Wholly means completely and sounds like holy in some accents, but it is an adverb with a different spelling.
holy vs holey
Holey means full of holes, as in holey socks, and is pronounced the same as holy.
Practice
The pilgrims walked barefoot because they considered the hillside ____.
Choose one answer.
Holy means connected with God or sacred. Wholly means completely, and holey means full of holes, so neither fits the meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “holy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.