How to Use saintly in a Sentence

saintly

adjective
  • Many of these are of a morbid cast, relics in the saintly sense.
    — Brett Martin, New York Times, 28 Nov. 2023
  • That’s not to say Rastignac is portrayed as a saintly figure.
    — Big Think, 29 Apr. 2026
  • Macdissi brings charm and warmth to the saintly Wally, though gets a bit too cloying in the process.
    — Gary Goldstein, chicagotribune.com, 26 Nov. 2020
  • But there’s one thing that even the most saintly eateries haven’t quite figured out yet, and that’s packaging.
    — Magdalena Puniewska, Bon Appetit, 8 Sep. 2017
  • Nigel once again steps in as a saintly father figure with access to a to-die-for sample closet.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 29 Apr. 2026
  • Besides, think of the saintly people who clean public restrooms.
    — Caroline Picard, Good Housekeeping, 17 Mar. 2017
  • The Newsweek and Rolling Stone covers mocked up with a halo and a saintly glow?
    — Heather Wilhelm, National Review, 11 Jan. 2018
  • Those looking for saintly intercession can choose from a pantheon of holy helpers.
    — Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2022
  • As if value just floats in thin air and evil aldermen are firing bazookas in its saintly direction.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 19 June 2026
  • To them, ditching booze was a way to protect the sanctity of the saintly Protestant home.
    — Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue, 17 Jan. 2020
  • Even children were, and still can be, approved for saintly veneration.
    — Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation, 8 Feb. 2022
  • Madonna sings through a vocoder as Blanco thrashes around a circle of judges, newly dressed in saintly garb.
    — Stephen Daw, Billboard, 7 June 2019
  • There was way too much of the saintly Taylor — she’s-going-to-save-every-one-of-us — Swift.
    — Matt Thompson, SPIN, 28 Nov. 2024
  • Such saintly behavior aside, one part of Jack that was becoming less sanctified was his body.
    — Dan Koeppel, Outside Online, 5 Sep. 2019
  • But while a few saintly figures are met in these pages, attempts at real reform generally came to nothing.
    — Patrick McGrath, New York Times, 28 June 2018
  • The dancers are not at their best when they are shown, in one scene, as shackled or required to maintain a saintly disposition while posed as if on the cross.
    — Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2022
  • And if so, what was wrong in wishing my saintly, gentle, favourite teacher a happy Valentine’s Day?
    — Manavi Kapur, Quartz India, 13 Feb. 2020
  • The life that Alharthi describes is one of almost saintly self-abnegation.
    — Ron Charles, Washington Post, 24 May 2022
  • And that's not even including the saintly mamas who have died to light a fire under their sons (hi, Thor and Shang-Chi).
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 13 July 2022
  • One brave mom, in her attempt to share her saintly dedication to the gifting arts, posted her mega-tree on Instagram.
    — Matt Miller, Esquire, 11 Dec. 2015
  • In Warsaw, the murderers hanged an important woman, the wife of an elder, a saintly person.
    — Ben Taub, The New Yorker, 30 Apr. 2018
  • Catholic masses in the all-white- and-gold marble chapel one Friday a month and every religious saintly holiday.
    — ELLE, 6 July 2022
  • The priest at the church, which had been sanctified by the recent arrival of some saintly relics from Rome, tried talking to the demon living in the girl’s body.
    — Matthew Gabriele, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Dec. 2024
  • The #MeToo movement isn’t filled with saintly women and individual bad men.
    — Washington Post, 12 Dec. 2019
  • As songwriters go, Van Zandt has long been idolized by musical peers, who refer to him as bordering on the saintly.
    — Michael Granberry, Dallas News, 10 May 2021
  • Plus, their father was the deacon of the local Catholic congregation – all the more reason to maintain a saintly lifestyle.
    — Tiney Ricciardi, Denver Post, 14 Oct. 2025
  • Take some time to appreciate the saintly people who spend eight high-energy hours each day with your children only to go home to plan the next day’s activities.
    — Lianna Matt, Twin Cities, 16 Jan. 2017
  • Far from some saintly martyr, Sophie is a wild card who takes advantage of some people who are trying to help her while angrily pushing others away.
    — Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2022
  • All this might make the movie sound like an unusually zany albeit topical riff on the holy-fool narrative, the tale of a beatific soul who is too stupid and too saintly for this world.
    — Justin Chang, latimes.com, 26 June 2019
  • In the end, my saintly husband-to-be fashioned the tin (one whole metre in diameter) himself out of industrial ducting and spare sheet metal.
    — Ellie Robertson, Vogue, 22 Dec. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'saintly.' 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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