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defiled 1 of 2

adjective

as in contaminated

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defiled

2 of 2

verb

past tense of defile
1
as in polluted
to make unfit for use by the addition of something harmful or undesirable supplies of meat that had been defiled by maggots

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in violated
to treat (a sacred place or object) shamefully or with great disrespect art conservators were careful not to do anything that might defile the holy relic

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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 defiled
Verb
The Tesla’s desecration follows a vandalism spree in Queens that saw religious centers, homes and vehicles defiled with swastikas and antisemitic slogans last month. — Barry Williams, New York Daily News, 26 June 2026 And earlier this month, Russia prompted outrage by installing an exhibit that some commentators said defiled the Katyn Memorial, the site of the mass execution of Polish POWs by the Soviets in 1940. — Nathan Hodge, CNN Money, 26 Apr. 2026 Among the false claims Energy Transfer alleged Greenpeace had spread was that the energy company defiled Native American cultural boundaries. — Mark Curriden, Dallas Morning News, 13 Mar. 2026 Militia members had ransacked and defiled the house. — Yousra Elbagir, Time, 25 Feb. 2026 As a state legislator, Lincoln stood against slave catchers backed by the federal government who defiled our state’s laws and terrorized our most vulnerable. — Chicago Tribune, 16 Feb. 2026 The work of love, and the question of what happens when love is absent or defiled, became a central preoccupation. — Literary Hub, 15 Jan. 2026 Their beautiful sanctuary has been defiled, and Emily is fired. — Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2025 After occupying forces defiled the temple, a small army led by Judah the Maccabee liberated the sanctuary. — Jose R. Gonzalez, AZCentral.com, 10 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defiled
  1. contaminated
  2. polluted
  3. violated
  4. tainted
  5. poisoned
  6. desecrated
  7. impure
  8. unclean
Adjective
  • Officials added that people cannot become infected with Naegleria fowleri by swallowing contaminated water; however, the amoeba can enter the body when it is forcefully introduced, such as through the nose into the brain.
    — Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 2 Sep. 2026
  • People cannot become infected by swallowing contaminated water.
    — Brittany Miller, FOXNews.com, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of contaminated
Verb
  • Our state has thousands of sites already polluted with toxic chemicals and other pollutants, and those projects affect air quality, safe drinking water and community health for millions of Californians.
    — Shannon Olivieri Hovis, Mercury News, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Greenpeace Germany warned that oil has already polluted stretches of coastline and damaged the area's fragile ecosystem.
    — Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of polluted
Verb
  • Hundreds of those grants were later reinstated when a federal judge ruled that the slap-dash nature of the terminations violated the Administrative Procedures Act, which regulates how agencies are supposed to change policies.
    — Anil Oza, STAT, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Marc Ellinger, an attorney for the two Republican lawmakers, has argued that switching congressional maps between the primary and general elections violated federal law.
    — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of violated
Adjective
  • One example is museums’ wall labels now mentioning tainted or dubious provenance.
    — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 28 Aug. 2026
  • The group turned its attention to Samoa in July 2018, when two young children died after being given a tainted MMR vaccine that had been improperly prepared.
    — Ali Swenson, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of tainted
Verb
  • And so, in many ways, the well of public opinion was already poisoned.
    — Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Colonizers call it voluntary emigration, but there is nothing voluntary about fleeing after your home has been bombed, your fields poisoned, your water cut off and your child buried.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of poisoned
Verb
  • Then in January 2026, according to police, a potential family member reached out to police and said the mausoleum and grave of a relative at Riverview Cemetery were unlawfully desecrated in 2002.
    — David Chiu, PEOPLE, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Skeletal remains found in a Wilmington, Delaware, park 15 years ago have been identified as a woman who died in 1907, and whose gravesite was later desecrated.
    — Joe Brandt, CBS News, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of desecrated
Adjective
  • Wise’s wistful songwriting is retained, but completely missing is his intentionally impure palette.
    — Billie Bugara, Pitchfork, 7 Mar. 2026
  • Kanto practitioners believe that women cannot participate because, according to Japan's Shinto religion, women's blood from menstruation and childbirth is considered impure for the purpose of religious rituals.
    — Anthony Kuhn, NPR, 3 Nov. 2025
Definition of impure
Adjective
  • Using unclean tools can introduce pathogens or diseases to your mint plants, potentially harming them and affecting future harvests.
    — Lauren Wellbank, Martha Stewart, 14 Sep. 2026
  • The inspector found unclean conditions and deficient handwashing practices and sanitation methods, according to the spokesperson.
    — Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of unclean

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Cite this Entry

“Defiled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defiled. Accessed 19 Sep. 2026.

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