How to Use self-righteous in a Sentence

self-righteous

adjective
  • John is the supremely self-righteous Veronica with Sieber as her more earthy spouse, Michael.
    — David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Mar. 2023
  • That rain jacket wasn’t made from unicorn ear wax, but the irony seems to have escaped the self-righteous protester.
    — WSJ, 13 July 2023
  • The stories of the working class are overlooked and traded to create a self-righteous brand of goodness and populism.
    — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 11 Feb. 2024
  • Who among us hasn’t felt some version of that self-righteous purity?
    — WIRED, 23 Feb. 2023
  • Their exchange is terse and extremely one-sided in favor of the self-righteous Bosch.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 20 Oct. 2023
  • Mariko is a more reserved, subtle character who lights up the screen, even without self-righteous tirades.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 28 Feb. 2024
  • For anyone who’s ever been wronged, loves to feel a little self-righteous, or just wants to dance it out, consider this your summer anthem.
    — Vogue, 2 July 2024
  • Through that bogus bromide, not genuine black folklore, class privilege raised its self-righteous head.
    — Armond White, National Review, 8 Mar. 2023
  • Meanwhile, everyone is running around talking about governance in such self-righteous ways, but missing the point.
    — Eli Amdur, Forbes, 20 Sep. 2024
  • However, my doctors tell me to stay away from them, as being around their judgmental and self-righteous attitude could trigger a relapse.
    — Amy Dickinson, Anchorage Daily News, 14 July 2023
  • Within the walls of Abbott, her piousness can come off as self-righteous, but Sheryl Lee Ralph’s performance adds a level of warmth and care similar to that of a big hug from your favorite auntie.
    — Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 28 Feb. 2024
  • Her self-righteous smirk, withering glare and wide, mischievous grin captured the emotional extremes of adolescence to an extent that words could never quite express.
    — Judy Berman, TIME, 14 July 2024
  • Teddy descends into cruel, self-righteous paranoia, quickly alienating his family — to say nothing of the Maine electorate — in a bid to regain control of his campaign and life.
    — Joumana Khatib, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2025
  • The Bartlet staff’s righteous (and self-righteous) elocution might seem — to the cynical — sentimental, treacly, smarmy, or just eye-roll-inducingly dumb.
    — Lizzie Logan, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2024
  • If Harbaugh is implicated as knowing, then the punishment will worsen dramatically and he will be sent to the social media gallows as a self-righteous fraud.
    — J. Brady McCollough, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2023
  • William is a self-righteous and conspiracy-minded and ruthlessly ambitious man who hides his darker side behind a charming facade.
    — Rick Porter, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2025
  • Elegant, worldly, and self-righteous Antoinette is a long-time divorcee whose life revolves around her weekly hair appointments and her job as a correctional officer at Rikers Island.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 17 Sep. 2024
  • And finally, Jenny, who wasn’t even born when their father was abducted, has dedicated her life to the self-righteous rejection of her family, a preoccupation that has left her friendless and joyless.
    — Ron Charles, Washington Post, 9 July 2024
  • Hellbent on destroying the pure, chaste and overly self-righteous preacher who denied her satisfaction, Salome performs a seductive dance at her stepfather Herod’s birthday feast.
    — E.r. Zarevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Mar. 2025
  • During the controversial match, Williams exploded in self-righteous fury at officiating decisions, briefly turning the crowd against Osaka and leaving her in tears even in victory.
    — Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2024
  • But her cause, once mocked as intolerant and self-righteous, has been revived by members of today’s conservative Christian movement who warn that homosexuality is a threat to children.
    — Linda Robertson, Miami Herald, 13 Jan. 2025
  • At a moment when so much comedy leans on self-righteous preaching or performative offensiveness, Carmichael’s candor is refreshing.
    — Judy Berman, TIME, 30 May 2024
  • The performances sing, too, with the series making use of Portman’s gift for self-righteous sanctimony and Ingram’s ability to sell both disillusionment and swashbuckling heroism as the situation demands it.
    — Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2024
  • If figures like Bannon and Wolf are selling self-righteous individualism, the left must work on bringing people together and building solidarity.
    — Laura Marsh, The New Republic, 5 Sep. 2023
  • Dillahunt will play modern cowboy William Macon, a self-righteous, conspiracy-minded man who masks his ruthless ambition behind a charming and calculated facade.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 1 Nov. 2024
  • While religious iconography abounds — and makes for some handy weapons, in a pinch — Cecilia’s crisis isn’t one of faith but of bodily autonomy, an indictment of self-righteous authority figures who use religion to gaslight and control female bodies.
    — Jen Yamato, Washington Post, 20 Mar. 2024
  • In recent months, those online debates have grown coarse and self-righteous, thanks to an unfortunate lyrical shift towards fellating his own male id on Her Loss, his pathetically execrable collaboration from last year with 21 Savage.
    — Mosi Reeves, Rolling Stone, 6 Oct. 2023
  • Recent excesses in prosecutions/persecutions and intramural power grabs that then spark self-righteous conniption fits make a spectacle of shamelessness that cries out for ridicule.
    — Armond White, National Review, 6 Oct. 2023
  • Ticketmaster’s recent fumbling of ticket sales for popstar Taylor Swift’s latest stadium tour put the venture’s practices, long bemoaned by music fans (and occasionally self-righteous rock bands like Pearl Ham), under a new, hotter spotlight.
    — Matt Wake | [email protected], al, 15 June 2023
  • Her character is annoyingly self-righteous, but also very attractive and seemingly interested in David.
    — Esther Zuckerman, IndieWire, 26 Jan. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'self-righteous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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