Word of the Day: Holy, Holey and Wholly
holy
ho-ly / hō-lē
adjective (holy, holier, holiest)
- sacred; divine; pertaining to God or a deity
O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart.
Saint Augustine, 354 – 430
- regarded with reverence or designated for religious use
They are not all saints who use holy water.
English Proverb
- godly; filled with spiritual devotion and high morals
Holy wisdom confounds Satan and all his wickednesses.
Francis of Assisi, 1182 – 1226
- possessing extreme purity
There is a holy love and a holy rage, and our best virtues never glow so brightly as when our passions are excited in the cause.
Charles Caleb Colton, 1780 – 1832
- considered as deserving special respect and awe
Joy is the holy fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence aglow.
Helen Keller, 1880 – 1968
- (informal) used to add emphasis, an intensifier
He was a holy terror when he drank!
From “Of Time and the River” by Thomas Wolfe, 1900 – 1938
holey
hol-ey / hō-lē
adjective (holy, holier, holiest)
- full of holes, containing holes
I darned my holey tan cashmere stockings.
From “Miss Million’s Maid” by Berta Ruck, 1878 – 1978
wholly
whol-ly / hō-lē, hōl-lē
adverb
- entirely, completely
There are few things wholly evil or wholly good.
Abraham Lincoln, 1809 – 1865
- exclusively, fully, to the exclusion of other things
Lose yourself wholly; and the more you lose, the more you will find.
St. Catherine of Siena, 1347 – 1380