I felt compelled to look up the definition this morning. Mixed in between all the other "stuff" was one thought - self-righteous.
Self Righteous! Which means - "piously self-assured and smugly moralistic"
And it fits what I was looking for.
I also found;
"the word 'pharisee' (and its derivatives: "pharisaical", etc.) has come into semi-common usage in English to describe a hypocritical and arrogant person who places the letter of the law above its spirit.
That fits too.
I have a "friend" who publicly "preaches" on Facebook. At the same time he "preaches" his God, he takes time to mock and belittle and blame his ex-wife for his troubles with his son. He maximizes all his troubles in the interest of "proving" he's the victim, not his son.
And now, since he's recently been blessed with an opportunity in our fellowship with a commitment to chair one of our liason groups, he's making use of a "magic wand" mentality to take the responsibilities of that group to a level they weren't intended to go. As if he now has the ability, through this commitment, to save thousands.
He's lost sight, like many others, that God is the reason we're sober, not human power.