as in to violate
to remove the sacred qualities or status of hoping to raise much-needed funds, the church elders deconsecrated the 18th-century silver chalice and consigned it to a high-end auction house

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 deconsecrate 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 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 Perhaps the best thing would be to deconsecrate the site and create a museum that explains what happened at the Valley itself. The Economist, 24 Oct. 2019 The church was deconsecrated in 2010, and the charter school arrived in 2013. Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 13 Aug. 2019 In late July, about 70 former members were drawn back to the synagogue for a service to deconsecrate the synagogue. Karen Berkowitz, chicagotribune.com, 1 Aug. 2019 Whether a gutted and deconsecrated former church building fits the definition remains to be seen. Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 3 June 2019 There is no single answer, but protest, not piety, seems to be a recurring theme—whether or not the venue is deconsecrated. Vogue, 24 Apr. 2018 The archdiocese, which had been bent on leveling the deconsecrated building, then reversed course and found a developer willing to convert the 19th century Polish church into apartments. Inga Saffron, Philly.com, 22 Mar. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deconsecrate
Verb
  • Last week a federal appeals court upheld Sessions’ order to bring Ozturk back to New England for hearings to determine whether her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process, were violated, as her lawyers argue.
    Rodrique Ngowi, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2025
  • That was when the makers, Epic Games, included a direct payment option into the app, which violated Apple’s rules.
    David Phelan, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025
Verb
  • Aguilar thinks the basilica should be desacralized and turned into a museum.
    Stephania Taladrid, The New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2019
  • 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

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Deconsecrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deconsecrate. Accessed 21 May. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!