RELIGIOUS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does religious mean? 

• RELIGIOUS (noun)
  The noun RELIGIOUS has 1 sense:

1. a member of a religious order who is bound by vows of poverty and chastity and obedience

  Familiarity information: RELIGIOUS used as a noun is very rare.

• RELIGIOUS (adjective)
  The adjective RELIGIOUS has 4 senses:

1. concerned with sacred matters or religion or the church

2. having or showing belief in and reverence for a deity

3. of or relating to clergy bound by monastic vows

4. extremely scrupulous and conscientious

  Familiarity information: RELIGIOUS used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RELIGIOUS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A member of a religious order who is bound by vows of poverty and chastity and obedience

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("religious" is a kind of...):

religious person (a person who manifests devotion to a deity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "religious"):

friar; mendicant (a male member of a religious order that originally relied solely on alms)

monastic; monk (a male religious living in a cloister and devoting himself to contemplation and prayer and work)

Benedictine (a monk or nun belonging to the order founded by Saint Benedict)

Jesuit (a member of the Jesuit order)

nun (a woman religious)

eremite (a Christian recluse)

cenobite; coenobite (a member of a religious order living in common)

superior (the head of a religious community)

votary (one bound by vows to a religion or life of worship or service)

Instance hyponyms:

Merton; Thomas Merton (United States religious and writer (1915-1968))

Derivation:

religious (of or relating to clergy bound by monastic vows)

• RELIGIOUS (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Concerned with sacred matters or religion or the church

Synonyms:

religious; spiritual

Context example:

spiritual songs

Similar:

sacred (concerned with religion or religious purposes)

Derivation:

religion (an institution to express belief in a divine power)

religiosity (exaggerated or affected piety and religious zeal)

religiousness (piety by virtue of being devout)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Having or showing belief in and reverence for a deity

Context example:

religious attitude

Similar:

churchgoing (actively practicing a religion)

churchly (resembling or suggesting or appropriate to a church)

devout; god-fearing (deeply religious)

interfaith (involving persons of different religious faiths)

Also:

pious (having or showing or expressing reverence for a deity)

Antonym:

irreligious (hostile or indifferent to religion)

Derivation:

religion (a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny)

religiousness (piety by virtue of being devout)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Of or relating to clergy bound by monastic vows

Context example:

the religious or regular clergy conducts the service

Antonym:

secular (of or relating to clergy not bound by monastic vows)

Derivation:

religious (a member of a religious order who is bound by vows of poverty and chastity and obedience)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Extremely scrupulous and conscientious

Context example:

religious in observing the rules of health

Similar:

scrupulous (having scruples; arising from a sense of right and wrong; principled)

Derivation:

religiousness (the quality of being extremely conscientious)

 Context examples 

The beliefs, values, and behaviors that are shared within a group, such as a religious group or a nation.

(Culture, NCI Dictionary)

A question about an individual's distress related to their spiritual or religious concerns.

(Distress over Spiritual or Religious Concerns, NCI Thesaurus)

It was for me to guard this sisterly affection with religious care.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A religious group that encompasses a diverse set of beliefs and traditions that originated in the Indian subcontinent.

(Hindu, NCI Thesaurus)

A building for public worship or religious services.

(Church, NCI Thesaurus)

It looks like religious mania, and he will soon think that he himself is God.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

His reverence for her, in that moment, was of the same order as religious awe and fervor.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Another good place to meet someone would be at a retreat where people go to meditate or find spiritual or religious inspiration.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A religious group that identifies with the beliefs and culture of the Latter-Day Saint movement.

(Mormon, NCI Thesaurus)

A religious group whose beliefs are based on the practices defined by the first seven ecumenical councils and whose members are located in or descended from the people of Eastern or Southeastern Europe.

(Eastern Orthodox Christian, NCI Thesaurus)