“Devout and God-fearing”
He and all his household were devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to the people and prayed to God regularly. (Acts 10:1–2 BSB)
What it sounds like today
'Feared God' reads as ordinary piety.
The cultural key
'One who feared God' was a recognized category, not a compliment: Gentiles attached to the synagogue who worshiped Israel's God, kept some practices, and gave alms, but had not taken the full step of conversion and circumcision. Inscriptions confirm the class (a famous synagogue donor list from Aphrodisias has a whole section of 'God-fearers,' including town councilors). Luke's mission narrative moves along exactly this bridge population: half inside already, waiting for someone to say the wall is gone.
Recovered meaning
Cornelius is the ideal test case: a Roman officer already praying to Israel's God at Israel's prayer hours, lacking only admission. When the door opens to him, it opens to a whole class the synagogues of the empire had been quietly gathering for generations.