as in atheistical
not showing proper reverence for the holy or sacred
a sacrilegious, obscene joke—and told in church at that!
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Recent Examples of sacrilegious
Some fans will think supporting two different teams, let alone rivals, is sacrilegious.
—
Charlotte Harpur, The Athletic, 19 Jan. 2025
But the French debate over whether to show images of Muhammad, which many Muslims view as sacrilegious, is still being waged today.
—Colette Davidson, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 Jan. 2025
Griswold—whose father, once the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, consecrated the denomination’s first openly gay bishop—treats the pastors generously, though gingerly, constructing from their lowest moments an affecting study of sacred life in sacrilegious times.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 2 Aug. 2024
The cartoon images deeply offended many Muslims, who saw them as sacrilegious.
—Tom Nouvian and Samuel Petrequin, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for sacrilegious
Charlotte Harpur, The Athletic, 19 Jan. 2025
But the French debate over whether to show images of Muhammad, which many Muslims view as sacrilegious, is still being waged today.
—Colette Davidson, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 Jan. 2025
Griswold—whose father, once the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, consecrated the denomination’s first openly gay bishop—treats the pastors generously, though gingerly, constructing from their lowest moments an affecting study of sacred life in sacrilegious times.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 2 Aug. 2024
The cartoon images deeply offended many Muslims, who saw them as sacrilegious.
—Tom Nouvian and Samuel Petrequin, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for sacrilegious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sacrilegious
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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This game must have seemed profane to the Greeks, or even impious.—
Simone Weil,
Harper's Magazine,
2 July 2024
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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
Adjective
-
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
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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Allen's defense team aggressively pushed their theory that Odinists, members of a pagan Norse religion hijacked by white nationalists, killed the girls during a sacrificial ritual in the woods.—
Kristine Phillips,
The Indianapolis Star,
13 Nov. 2024
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There’s a lot of folklore, superstition and myth — pagan elements really, that are folded into how people actually practice religion in Ireland.—
Georg Szalai,
The Hollywood Reporter,
3 Sep. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Sacrilegious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sacrilegious. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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