Pecksniffian

[ pek-snif-ee-uh n ]

/ pɛkˈsnɪf i ən /

hypocritically and unctuously affecting benevolence or high moral principles.

Sometimes Peck·sniff·ish.

Origin of Pecksniffian

1850–55; named after Seth Pecksniff, character in Martin Chuzzlewit, a novel (1843) by Dickens; see -ian

Peck·sniff·er·y, Peck·sniff·i·an·ism, Peck·sniff·ism, noun

He posed as the Pecksniffian leader of Reform and the reform he advocated always meant the lash for the man who toils.

The Fall of a Nation |Thomas Dixon
He was, after a fashion, a Pecksniffian man, this Henry Ham.

The Sea Bride |Ben Ames Williams
Piety was certainly hers, in a Pecksniffian sense, but the commercial instinct leavened the loaf.

Wanted: A Cook |Alan Dale
The conclusion was couched in that vein of Pecksniffian benevolence of which we hear so much in life.

From Sail to Steam, Recollections of Naval Life |Captain A. T. Mahan

But there is something quite pestilently Pecksniffian about shrinking from a hard task on the plea that it is not hard enough.

A Chesterton Calendar |G. K. Chesterton

Pecksniffian

/ (pɛkˈsnɪfɪən) /

affecting benevolence or high moral principles

C19: after Seth Pecksniff, character in Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit (1843)