holy

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holy^¹

/ˈhəʊli/ UK
/ˈhoʊli/ US

Sounds like wholly, holey (in accents without the wholly-holy split) · Rhymes with -əʊli

Where it comes from

From Middle English ali, aly, hale, halege, hali, halȝe, hayly, holi, holia, holie, holiȝ, holy, hooly, oli, oly, wholy, woly, from Old English hāleġ, hāliġ (“holy, sacred; healthy, sound”), from Proto-West Germanic *hailag, from Proto-Germanic *hailagaz (“holy, sacred”), from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“healthy; whole”), from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilos (“intact, whole; complete; hale, healthy, sound”), equivalent to whole + -y and a doublet of later wholly.

Cognates

Cognate with Scots halie, haly (“holy”), Yola holly, holy (“holy”), Saterland Frisian helig (“holy”), Alemannic German, Dutch, and German heilig (“holy, sacred”), Cimbrian hòolig (“holy”), Luxembourgish helleg (“holy”), Vilamovian haeliḱ, haliky, hȧlikjy, hǡliḱ (“holy”), Yiddish הייליק (heylik, “holy”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hellig (“holy”), Faroese heilagur (“holy”), Icelandic heilagur, helgur (“holy”), Norwegian Nynorsk heilag, heilag’u (“holy”), Swedish helig (“holy”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌲𐍃 (hailags, “holy”); also Latin cael, caelus, caelum, coelus, coelum (“heaven; sky; climate, weather”), Belarusian цэ́лы (cély, “entire, whole”), Bulgarian цял (cjal, “entire, full, intact, whole; real, regular, veritable”), Czech and Slovak celý (“whole”), Macedonian цел (cel, “entire, whole”), Polish cały (“entire, whole”), Russian це́лый (célyj, “entire, whole”), Serbo-Croatian це̏о, ци̏јел, ци̏о, cȅo, cȉjel, cȉo (“entire, whole”), Slovene cel (“whole”), Ukrainian ці́лий (cílyj, “entire, whole”). More at whole.

adjective holier · holiest · holie · hooly · Holy · 'oly

Dedicated to a religious purpose or a god. I'm planning to visit the holy city of Jerusalem this Christmas.
Similar: sacred, godly
Revered in a religion. This tree is considered holy in my culture.
Similar: sacred, godly · Opposite: profane, secular, unholy, worldly
Morally perfect or flawless, or nearly so. My grandmother is a very holy woman.
Similar: faultless, flawless, perfect · Opposite: damaged, defective, faulty, flawed, imperfect
Separated or set apart from (something unto something or someone else).
Similar: consecrated, hallowed, sanctified, divined, holy, sacrate, sacred
Set apart or dedicated for a specific purpose, or for use by a single entity or person.
Similar: reserved, special · Opposite: common
slang Used as an intensifier in various interjections. Holy cow, I can’t believe he actually lost the race!
Similar: blessed, cursed, infernal, 4ucking, accursed, bally, blasted, bleeding, bleeping, blimming, blinking, bloody

Similar: blessed, celestial, devoutful, divine, hallowed, heavenly, holy, godly, sacred, sanctimonious · Opposite: profane, secular, unhallowed, unholy, worldly

interjection holie · hooly · Holy · 'oly

slang An expression of astonishment and awe.
Similar: holy shit

noun holies · holie · hooly · Holy · 'oly

archaic A thing that is extremely holy; used almost exclusively in Holy of Holies. The holy of holies, a cubical space of ten cubits on the side, was separated from the larger antechamber by four columns, which were also covered with gold and stood upon silver sockets; they bore a second curtain of four colors.

Holy^²

adjective

Alternative letter-case form of holy used when referring to an important figure, such as God, or to an important item or event.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: hallowed, sanctified, sacred, blessed, sanctum, beatified, consecrated, holy place, devout, pious, solemn, sacrosanct, religious, sainted, saintly, revered

adjective

Similar: blessed, celestial, devoutful, divine, hallowed, heavenly, holy, godly, sacred, sanctimonious · Opposite: profane, secular, unhallowed, unholy, worldly

Translations

Every language

adj dedicated to a religious purpose

Español	santo, sagrado, sacro
한국어	거룩한 georukhan, 신성한 sinseonghan
日本語	神聖 shinsei, 聖なる sei naru
中文	神聖 /神圣 shénshèng, 聖 /圣 shèng
हिन्दी	पवित्र pavitra
Português	santo, sagrado, sacro
Français	saint, sacré
Deutsch	heilig
Italiano	sacro
Ελληνικά	άγιος ágios
Română	sfânt
Русский	свято́й svjatój, свяще́нный svjaščénnyj
Tiếng Việt	thánh, thần thánh
العربية	مُقَدَّس muqaddas
עברית	קדוש \ קָדוֹשׁ kadósh

adj revered in a religion

Español	santo
Português	sacro, sagrado
Français	saint, bénit
Deutsch	heilig
Italiano	santo
Ελληνικά	άγιος ágios
Română	sfânt
Русский	свято́й svjatój, свяще́нный svjaščénnyj

adj flawless

中文	聖潔 /圣洁 shèngjié
Português	imaculado
Italiano	immacolato
Русский	свято́й svjatój

adj dedicated for a specific purpose

Ελληνικά	ιερός ierós
עברית	קדוש \ קָדוֹשׁ kadósh

adj slang intensifier

Русский	свято́й svjatój, бо́жий bóžij

noun holy thing

Русский	святы́ня svjatýnja
עברית	קודש \ קֹדֶשׁ kódesh

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Cite this

MLA

"holy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/holy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

holy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/holy

Chicago

"holy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/holy.

BibTeX

@misc{holy_2026,
  title = {holy},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/holy},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}