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profane

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verb

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as in to misuse
to put to a bad or improper use profaned his considerable acting talents by appearing in some wretched movies

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of profane
Adjective
Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds sought relief from 'violent, profane, sexist' communications The ruling comes after Lively and Reynolds sought protection from Baldoni and his legal team in a February letter to Judge Liman. Edward Segarra, USA TODAY, 13 Mar. 2025 Well, who better to judge than the king of profane movies, Martin Scorsese. Shania Russell, EW.com, 9 Mar. 2025
Verb
Her husband, the exuberant and often profane former Dodgers manager who won two World Series championships, died Jan. 7 at 93. Steve Marble, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2021 The narrative is that of a leader who has experienced vilification at the hands of enemies who are both secular (and thus profane) and intensely demonic. Federico Finchelstein, The New Republic, 3 Nov. 2020 See All Example Sentences for profane
Recent Examples of Synonyms for profane
Adjective
  • There is a limit, which could be discussed as a temporal one.
    News Desk, Artforum, 10 Apr. 2025
  • When the master of timing departed our temporal world for a large and silent india-ink panel nine days shy of his 96th birthday, the cartoonist left behind an enormous body of work that still dances on the page.
    Art Spiegelman, The Atlantic, 9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Presented at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, in 1976 as part of a group show of artists’ books, Santoro’s volume was immediately censored as obscene and offensive.
    Paola Ugolini, Artforum, 1 Apr. 2025
  • Cybertruck owners have shared displays of hostility from other motorists on a Facebook page, including vulgar notes left on their vehicles and obscene gestures directed at them from passing cars.
    Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY, 11 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Banks couldn’t simply restore from backups because those records had also been corrupted.
    Jim Dobson, Forbes.com, 4 Apr. 2025
  • Examples include divulging end users’ confidential contacts or emails and delivering falsified answers that have the potential to corrupt the integrity of important calculations.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 28 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • He was impeached by the state House in 2023 but acquitted by the state Senate after he was accused of misusing his office to benefit a real estate developer.
    Jonathan Easley, The Hill, 9 Apr. 2025
  • Yet bioethicists, privacy experts and national security experts warn that genetic information can also be misused in dangerous ways.
    Abigail Dubiniecki, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Earlier in the episode, Whitfield and Lindy violate Mabel — then pour hot coffee on her — before Whitfield pushes her down on the breakfast table and rapes her.
    Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 6 Apr. 2025
  • Not the least of which is that the terms of the settlement clearly violate antitrust law, which was the grounds for the lawsuit in the first place.
    Joe Sabin, Forbes.com, 6 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • 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
  • 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
  • The childish use of vulgar profanity simply leads peoople to view the speaker as being unable to express his/her view.
    Letters to the editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 Apr. 2025
  • Along with receiving vulgar comments in person and people taking her picture on campus, the 18-year-old has received vile and sexist messages after her phone number was posted online.
    David Chiu, People.com, 1 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Thimerosal degrades into ethylmercury, which was judged not to be a danger at the level that would come from a vaccine.
    Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2025
  • The quality degrades a bit after the sun goes down.
    PC Magazine, PC Magazine, 29 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Profane.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/profane. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.

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