as in atheistical
not showing proper reverence for the holy or sacred
an impious act that horrified their pious mother
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Recent Examples of impious
This game must have seemed profane to the Greeks, or even impious.
—
Simone Weil, Harper's Magazine, 2 July 2024
Both narratives, private and public, differently restrict our access, so the ideal historian will need great tact and an impious curiosity.
—James Wood, The New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2023
Sarah Thompson, the MFA’s curator of Japanese Art, and curatorial assistant Kendall DeBoer, who put the show’s more than 350 works together, deserve credit for being impious, not reverent.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Mar. 2023
Some seem startlingly impious.
—Lidija Haas, Harper's Magazine, 18 Aug. 2020
To cut short these death throes is both impious (for those who believe) and immoral (for anyone).
—Michel Houellebecq, Harper’s Magazine , 6 Jan. 2023
Bragadin’s cash was funding heavy gambling and elaborate, impious scenes of seduction.
—Clare Bucknell, Harper’s Magazine , 26 Oct. 2022
Simone Weil, Harper's Magazine, 2 July 2024
Both narratives, private and public, differently restrict our access, so the ideal historian will need great tact and an impious curiosity.
—James Wood, The New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2023
Sarah Thompson, the MFA’s curator of Japanese Art, and curatorial assistant Kendall DeBoer, who put the show’s more than 350 works together, deserve credit for being impious, not reverent.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Mar. 2023
Some seem startlingly impious.
—Lidija Haas, Harper's Magazine, 18 Aug. 2020
To cut short these death throes is both impious (for those who believe) and immoral (for anyone).
—Michel Houellebecq, Harper’s Magazine , 6 Jan. 2023
Bragadin’s cash was funding heavy gambling and elaborate, impious scenes of seduction.
—Clare Bucknell, Harper’s Magazine , 26 Oct. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impious
Adjective
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For Western audiences, this abrupt pause may seem like a momentum-killer or even sacrilegious.—
Viren Naidu,
IndieWire,
24 Mar. 2025
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The solution, too good to spoil here, involves a sacrilegious yet principled breach of a basic rule—and a tweak to a pitcher’s very identity.—
Richard Brody,
The New Yorker,
7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Suggestions of changing head coach would now be borderline blasphemous for many Newcastle supporters, despite significant social-media murmurings before the nine-game winning run from mid-December.—
Chris Waugh,
The Athletic,
18 Mar. 2025
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Rushdie has received death threats ever since 1989, starting with the publication of his novel The Satanic Verses, which was declared by some as blasphemous.—
KC Baker,
People.com,
21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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In other words, despite its seeming departure from Maine’s binary logic, the Second World was really a slice of the non-West that, contrary to expectations, embraced an explicitly secular and modernizing agenda: socialism.—
Zachariah Mampilly,
Foreign Affairs,
1 Apr. 2025
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But the church’s decision to make Catholic Charities a separate corporate entity means that this entity is not exempt from the state’s unemployment law — because Catholic Charities itself only provides secular services.—
Ian Millhiser,
Vox,
31 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Freewheeling in nature and with a knack for mixing eclectic cultures, Yang proposed a thoughtful collection with an irreverent edge, one consistently framed by Yang’s lineup of Asian female protagonists.—
Tianwei Zhang,
Footwear News,
1 Apr. 2025
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Marking Benna’s feature directorial and editorial debut, André Is an Idiot watches as André, an irreverent man, embarks on an unexpected journey after receiving a terminal diagnosis, determined to maintain his humor while learning to die happily.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
31 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Impious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impious. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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