Dictionary

sanctimommy en · NOUN

Etymology

Blend of sanctimony + mommy.

Meanings

1. (Canada, US, derogatory, informal) A mother who exhibits a superior attitude and openly judges others' parenting.
   • I'm late for pediatrician appointments. I can't make straight parts in my girls' hair. I forget to send them in the snow with hats, as the kind sanctimommies of the neighborhood are delighted to point out with their eyebrows raised as far as Botox will allow. 2009, Liz Gumbinner, “Type B Mom”, in Beth Feldman, editor, See Mom Run: Side-Splitting Essays from the World's Most Harried Blogging Moms, Plain White Press, →ISBN, page 140:
   • But Waldman’s reaction spoke for any vulnerable young mother holding a bottle subjected in public to a drive-by comment from the lactation police that “breast is best,” or, who, desperate for a few consecutive hours of sleep, let her child cry for ten minutes in her crib before settling, was made to feel as though she had subjected her offspring of child abuse, by one of the Bialik-style “sanctimommies.” 2012 November 26, Allison Kaplan Sommer, “Mayim Bialik: When an attachment parent detaches from her marriage”, in Haaretz:
   • She even has to endure the occasional judgments from sanctimommies—women who are much, much better mothers than Kelly and who sometimes wonder aloud, "Why can't her kids swim yet?" or "Why is she drinking a glass of wine at her daughter's birthday party?" (God no!) 2010, Colin Sokolowski, The Accidental Adult: Essays and Advice for the Reluctantly Responsible and Marginally Mature, Adams Media, →ISBN, page 104:

Forms