Can anyone provide a clear definition of "self-righteous"?

Question

I'm interested in how "self-righteous" is different from the related terms "righteous," "faithful," "confident," and "pharisaical." What does the prefix "self" imply?

Answer 1

When a person considers himself or herself very righteous; more righteous than those around him or her, while others (including God) know he or she is a judgmental hypocrite.

Answer 2

Stop questioning MY authority and wisdom.

Answer 3

The only word that comes to mind is Pride. Self righteous is from yourself where righteousness comes from God.  

Answer 4

Self-righteousness is a belief that someone has the right to say that they're right, doesn't matter if they're wrong or not.

It is usually manifested in christians.

Answer 5

My definition of self-righteous is someone who sees themselves as 'better' than everyone else. They can do no wrong, or their wrongs aren't as bad as someone else's (in other words, a hypocrite).

To me the term 'pharisaical' is a perfect synonym for self-righteous, since that is exactly what the Pharisees were in Jesus' time.

Edit: Contrary to the opinion of Etrius Voldagger, it is not a trait usually manifested in TRUE Christians. The only reason people view Christians as self-righteous is because Christians are secure in their faith and confident in what they believe.

Does that make an atheist who is secure in their beliefs self-righteous too then?

Answer 6

I try to steer clear of anything that begins with "self-"  I am dust.

confident of one's own righteousness, esp. when smugly moralistic and intolerant of the opinions and behavior of others.

—Synonyms sanctimonious, pharisaical.

Wheen approaching a sinner, i must remebe that i too am but a sinner, it is only by the grace of god that I have the gift of faith, I am not the holy spirit, and that ther is probably a plank in my own eye, and that i do not know a person's heart.  so, i can point out ht ewrong wihtout guilting the sinner.  The only thing that can be held agist us is to refuse to acknolwedge our sin and to try to do better.  But "self-" is dangerous in all forms.

Answer 7

Self-righteous refers to one that is sanctimonios, and holds self above others in terms of moralistic worth or behaves in a holier-than-thou attitude.

Righteous, faithful, confident have different meanings that i do not see as related except to the fact that a self-righteous person believes themselves more righteous and faithful than all others and they have arrogance rather than confidence.

Righteous refers to seeking to do what is right, either according to one's moral convictions  from a culture or religion.

As a Jew I hate that term pharisaical as it is antisemitic.  The depiction of the Pharisees as all sanctimonious hypocrites who were only about outward ritual flies in the face of Jewish history and their own writings.  The Pharisees (from the Hebrew perushim, from parash, meaning "to separate") began during the Second Temple period during a period of great Greek influence as a movement to keep idolatrous and pagan influences out of Judaism and formed in the time of the Seleucid king, Antiochus Epiphanes ( 175 - 163 BCE).   The Pharisees were the sect of Judaism that promoted religious education for all classes, acceptance of converts as fullly Jewish, stood firm against introduction of Hellenized and pagan beliefs into Jewish doctrine and scripture and among whose ranks are some of the greatest Jewish sages. Is it irony that they are demonized for rejecting the Christian doctrine, yet Jesus paraphrased one of the greatest leaders of the Pharisees, Hillel the elder, born 100BCE who said to one asking him to explain the Torah while standing on one leg, " That what is distasteful to you do not do to another.  All the rest is commentary, go and learn."

The prefix self, in self-righteousness of course implies that the term is related to an attribute of SELF..in this inflation of self-importance and superior morality than tends to demonize and belittle others..

Answer 8

"self-righteous" is belief that justification of sin before God is due to self works alone and not faith, nor the grace of God.

"righteous" is faith in justification through Jesus' sacrifice at the cross and is salvation as given by God by His grace and the believer's faith in Him alone. True righteousness is not granted by works, so that no man shall boast.  Abraham, Job, Moses, David, Peter, Paul, John, Matthew, Mark, Luke were among those considered righteous for their faith in God.  Faith in God is demonstrated by good works (good works are a product of faith).  Faith without works is dead.

Answer 9

The self in self-righteous means that the person believes themselves to be righteous based on their own opinion. They may or may not engage in good works; the point is, they consider themselves to be righteous because it's them; and there is no way to change their mind.

Answer 10

Cat wants my chair that I am sitting now...

Answer 11

The Yahoo censors.  

Answer 12

Try http://www.dictionary.com

Answer 13

An attribute of a righteous person, in the Biblical sense, is one who "believes in" God.

A self-righteous person is one who believes in himself--usually without justification.

Answer 14

For atheists and secular humanists, "self-righteous" is a negative term used to describe anyone who doesn't believe in atheism and/or secular humanism.

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Answer 15

Righteousness is 'just-togetherness'.

Self-righteousness is [Unsuccessfully] self-reliant attempts at righteousness by beings other than God - Who is truely righteous in a self-righteous way because He is the ultimate Judge of what is righteous and what isn't.

Creatures achieve righteousness only by reliance on God to force them to be righteous...

Answer 16

Do as I say, not as I do.

Answer 17

The definitions you get are going to be totally dependent on who you're getting your definition from.  

The literal definition based on Etymology  c.1680, from self + righteous would be to claim ones self to be righteous due to some act(s) or deed(s) they've done.

The term has however been quite often misused to claim that Christians are claiming righteousness they aren't deserving of when the fact is 99.9% of Christians readily admit that they are not righteous because of anything they've done or not done. They are righteous ONLY because of the price Jesus Christ paid for them.

So... in that respect Christians would be Jesus-righteous, not self-righteous and those who claim they are "good enough" without Jesus in their lives would technically be the ones who are "self-righteous".  

Answer 18

self-righteous is someone that believes theie actions make them righteous  ie. I tithe, I pray. Look at the parable of the publican and the pharisee. The Pharasee praised himself. The publican admitted his faults. The pharasee was self righteous.

Answer 19

Basically, they always think they are the only ones who have taken the right path of doing good and come across with a superior attitude.