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des·e·cra·tion | \ ˌde-si-ˈkrā-shən 
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\Definition of desecration
: an act or instance of desecrating : the state of being desecrated
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Examples of desecration in a Sentence
the communicants were aghast at the desecration of the altar
Recent Examples on the Web The cathedral survived wars and desecration during the French Revolution in the 1790s but suffered significant damage last April.
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Babak Tafreshi, National Geographic, "Trespassing, vandalism rise in U.S. national parks," 14 Apr. 2020 Necessity often led to desecration in the extreme environments of the Antarctic, though most instances were justified by profit rather than survival.
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Lucy Jakub, Harper's magazine, "A View to a Krill," 2 Mar. 2020 To allow a scroll to fall into disrepair or to be damaged is considered a desecration and a blasphemy.
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Fox News, "Yemen claims ownership of Jewish artifacts smuggled out of the country," 30 Oct. 2019 The desecration was intentional; the stolpersteine both reference and reverse this practice.
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Time, "How Do We Remember Victims of Mass Murder? A Holocaust Survivor's Daughter on How She Honors Her Family," 24 Jan. 2020 In this, Cardinal Müller sees idolatry and a satanic desecration.
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Daniel J. Mahoney, National Review, "Pope Francis, Wayward Shepherd," 6 Feb. 2020 His name was Howard Zinn, and his project became the book A People’s History of the United States, a desecration of American memory that is the single most destructive act in the annals of American historiography.
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Rich Lowry, National Review, "The Treason of the Elites," 24 Oct. 2019 Just as there are laws to ostensibly prevent Trump’s threatened war crimes, there are also laws meant to protect Native nations from this kind of looting and desecration.
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Nick Martin, The New Republic, "America Has Never Cared About Sacred Sites," 8 Jan. 2020 To them, removing it from a spot in the middle of the fort the men died defending would be a desecration, and a slap in the face to Coppini, who insisted on having it there.
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Scott Huddleston, ExpressNews.com, "Demonstrators warn they will use force to stop Alamo Cenotaph move," 27 Dec. 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'desecration.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for desecration
The first known use of desecration was circa 1717
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