Definition of "holier-than-thou" []

• Exhibiting an attitude of superior virtue; self-righteously pious. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "These holier-than-thou guardians of free speech are practically creaming with self-righteous glee as they publicly lynch this young woman for saying something dreadfully stupid that she undoubtedly deeply regrets."
• "So don't give me this high and mighty, holier-than-thou attitude about the special interests flooding the political marketplace."
• "When defining tourism as 'eco' or 'sustainable' or 'responsible' practitioners often envelop themselves in a holier-than-thou attitude, but it doesn't have to be this way."