This adjective describes someone devoted to religious practice and ritual observance. While generally positive ("devout," "pious"), it could also shade toward the negative sense of "superstitious" or excessively scrupulous about rituals. James 1:26 uses it for someone who "considers himself religious"—the context suggests outward religious practice that may lack authentic ethical content (controlling the tongue, caring for orphans). The word appears rarely in biblical texts, but its ambivalence between genuine devotion and mere religiosity makes it apt for James's warning against self-deception in religious observance.