Definition of HOLY

holy

Plural: holies

Noun

  • A sacred place or object.
  • a sacred place of pilgrimage
  • A thing that is extremely holy; used almost exclusively in Holy of Holies.

Adjective

  • Dedicated to religious worship; sacred or divine.
  • belonging to or derived from or associated with a divine power

Adj

  • Dedicated to a religious purpose or a god.
  • Revered in a religion.
  • Morally perfect or flawless, or nearly so.
  • Separated or set apart from (something unto something or someone else).
  • Set apart or dedicated for a specific purpose, or for use by a single entity or person.
  • Used as an intensifier in various interjections.

Intj

  • An expression of astonishment and awe.

Examples

  • Achieving a bingo with HOLY felt like a sacred moment in her Words With Friends game.
  • Holy cow, I can’t believe he actually lost the race!
  • I'm planning to visit the holy city of Jerusalem this Christmas.
  • My grandmother is a very holy woman.
  • The center square felt like a holy space, reserved for high-scoring words only.
  • This tree is considered holy in my culture.
  • Those children next door are holy terrors!

Origin / Etymology

Inherited from Middle English holi, hali, from Old English hāliġ, hāleġ (“holy, consecrated, sacred, venerated, godly, saintly, ecclesiastical, pacific, tame”), from Proto-West Germanic *hailag, from Proto-Germanic *hailagaz (“holy, bringing health”), from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“healthy, whole”), from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilos (“healthy, whole”), equivalent to whole + -y and a doublet of later wholly.
Cognate with Scots haly (“holy”), West Frisian hillich (“holy”), Low German hillig (“holy”), Dutch heilig (“holy”), German heilig (“holy”), Danish hellig (“holy”), Swedish helig (“holy”). More at whole.

Synonyms

holy place, sanctum, faultless, flawless, godly, holy shit, perfect, reserved, sacred, sanctified, special

Antonyms

unholy, antonym(s) of “set apart, damaged, dedicated for a specific purpose”, defective, faulty, flawed, imperfect, profane, secular, worldly

Scrabble Score: 10

holy: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
holy: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
holy: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 9

holy: valid Words With Friends Word