sacrilegious

adjective

sac·​ri·​le·​gious ˌsa-krə-ˈli-jəs 

also

-ˈlē- 

: committing or characterized by sacrilege : having or showing a lack of proper respect for a sacred person, place, or object

sacrilegious acts

It is difficult for religiously committed persons to acknowledge that their sacred texts are prone to sacrilegious uses.

—Mary C. Boys

—often used in an exaggerated way in contexts unrelated to religion

It would be sacrilegious to cut down such beautiful trees.

Chilling your red wines may seem sacrilegious to some, and downright odd to others.

—Tess Rose Lampert

sacrilegiously adverb

In the center of the rich red carpet was a black and gold Louis Quinze table, a lovely antique, now sacrilegiously desecrated with marks of glasses and the scars of cigar-stumps.

—Arthur Conan Doyle

sacrilegiousness noun

… these examples of … insensitivity to (if not sacrilegiousness or profanation of) the deeply held beliefs of some 200 million-plus Americans.

—Quin Hilyer

Synonyms of sacrilegious

• blasphemous
• impious
• secular
• atheistic
• irreverent
• pagan

Examples of sacrilegious in a Sentence

a sacrilegious, obscene joke—and told in church at that!

Recent Examples on the Web

The tweak The Improper Pig made to a coveted Southern brunch dish might be considered sacrilegious in some kitchens, but the result is a delicious argument for bending tradition. — Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 22 Sep. 2026

As sacrilegious as this might sound to devout Bears fans, Johnson was equipped inside Halas Hall this offseason with Green Bay Packers highlights as a teach tape. — Dan Wiederer, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026

Because xenia rested on mutual trust, violating it was considered not just rude but sacrilegious. — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 19 July 2026

So special that the very idea of wearing them again was sacrilegious. — Rebecca Cope, Vogue, 7 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1582, in the meaning defined above

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