{{Short description|Feeling or display of moral superiority}} {{Redirect|Sanctimony|the 2000 film|Sanctimony (film)}} {{Dictionary definition|date=September 2023}}

'''Self-righteousness''' (also called '''sanctimony''', '''sententiousness''', and '''holier-than-thou attitudes''')<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/holier-than-thou|title=definition of holier-than-thou by the Free Online Dictionary|publisher=Thefreedictionary.com|access-date=2013-03-11}}</ref><ref>"Holier than thou" originates from the King James Bible, Isaiah 65:5, in which such an attitude is condemned</ref> is an attitude and belief of moral superiority derived from a person deeming their own beliefs, actions, or affiliations to be of greater virtue than those of the average person.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/self+righteous|title=the definition of self-righteous|website=Dictionary.com|access-date=22 October 2017}}</ref> Self-righteous individuals are intolerant of the opinions and behaviors of others that they deem to be less moral and virtuous.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dictionary.reference.com/browse/self-righteous|title=the definition of self-righteous|website=Dictionary.com|access-date=22 October 2017}}</ref> A self-righteous person will often exhort or rebuke certain behaviors and actions from others.

== See also == {{Wikiquote}} {{Wiktionary}}

{{Div col|colwidth=20em}} * Elitism * Mississippi Squirrel Revival * Narcissism * Sanctimommy * Signalling theory * Superiority complex * The Mote and the Beam * The Pharisee and the Publican * Virtue signalling {{Div col end}}

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== References == {{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading == * [https://books.google.com/books?id=EeIhAAAAMAAJ ''Good Mrs. Hypocrite: A Study in Self-Righteousness'']

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Category:Concepts in ethics Category:Morality Category:Narcissism Category:Pejorative terms Category:Self Category:Virtue