as in to violate
to remove the sacred qualities or status of
desanctified the church building and converted it into condos
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Recent Examples of desanctify
Someone may have removed these features in an attempt to desanctify the religious icon, according to a government statement.
—
Nora McGreevy, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 June 2020
Nora McGreevy, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 June 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desanctify
Verb
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Airlines and their trade association argue that the Biden administration’s wheelchair regulations exceed the Department of Transportation’s statutory authority and violate the Administrative Procedure Act, claiming the requirements impose unreasonable burdens on air carriers.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Mar. 2026
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Eleven people, including several sitting members of Bridgeport city council and the former vice chair of the city’s Democratic Party, are facing hundreds of state criminal charges for violating Connecticut’s absentee ballot laws during back-to-back mayoral elections in 2019 and 2023.—
Andrew Brown,
Hartford Courant,
15 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Aguilar thinks the basilica should be desacralized and turned into a museum.—
Stephania Taladrid,
The New Yorker,
26 Oct. 2019
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Rumor and street culture—jokes, postcards, sayings, bawdy plays performed in saloons—changed the image of the czar and the czarina, desacralized them, before and during the war.—
Olga Ingurazova,
Smithsonian,
29 Sep. 2017
Verb
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Installed in a church, the artwork titled Silentium by French conceptual artist James Calomina, was exhibited in a former church in Toulouse that was deconsecrated.—
The Editors of ARTnews,
ARTnews.com,
6 Nov. 2024
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But the seminal Spanish-language church was deconsecrated by the Archdiocese of New York in January, paving the way for its potential sale, alteration or demolition.—
John Freeman Gill,
New York Times,
2 June 2023
Cite this Entry
“Desanctify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desanctify. Accessed 20 Mar. 2026.
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