Etymograph

English

self-righteous

From self- + righteous.

A compound of self- + righteous

Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ-

Proto-Germanic *selbaz ‘self’

Proto-Germanic *selba-

English self-

Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- ‘to righten’

Proto-West Germanic *rehtawīs

Old English rihtwīs ‘righteous, just’

Middle English rightwise ‘upright, righteous’

English righteous

Today it means

adj Piously self-assured and smugly moralistic.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “self-righteous”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / self-righteous

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