DEFILEMENT Synonyms: 58 Similar and Opposite Words

defilement

noun

Definition of defilement

as in desecration

an act of great disrespect shown to God or to sacred ideas, people, or things for two centuries the Christian monasteries in England suffered defilements at the hands of Viking invaders

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as in contamination

something that is or that makes impure souvenir shops, observation towers, and other tacky defilements on Civil War battlefields that should be considered hallowed ground

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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 defilement In this way, Lapid keeps the emotional aspect of Y’s self-defilement at the forefront of the drama. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for defilement

Noun

These are two examples of politicians' truths among a plethora of others that are really lies, distortions, deceptions and desecrations of the citizens' trust in them.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 23 Sep. 2026
Cutting down a tree is this ultimate symbol of the desecration of the environment, but that wasn’t always the case.

— Fiction Non Fiction, Literary Hub, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of desecration

Noun

In particular, many residents are worried about high water usage, water and land contamination, and human health impacts due to the energy-intensive, 24/7 operations.

— Taylor O'Connor, Kansas City Star, 22 Sep. 2026
Galileo's demise also demonstrated a bit of planetary protection for NASA, which would later recreate the death dive at Saturn with Cassini's Grand Finale as way to protect that planet's icy moons from contamination as well.

— Tariq Malik, Space.com, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of contamination

Noun

Their mining and processing can also release metals and other contaminants into surrounding environments.

— Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 21 Sep. 2026
If your home is connected to a sewer, the water travels to a treatment plant where solids and contaminants are removed.

— Ryan Brennan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of contaminant

Noun

Or a plot to divert attention from Murphy’s blasphemy of her famously lucky number 13?

— Isabella Albaig, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2026
That might have sounded like blasphemy just half a decade ago, but college football is always evolving, and Swinney is a man stuck in time.

— Austin Perry OutKick, FOXNews.com, 7 Sep. 2026

Definition of blasphemy

Noun

Burning fossil fuels releases pollutants that form fine particles and ground-level ozone, increasing risks of heart and lung disease and premature death.

— Akshaya Jha, The Conversation, 22 Sep. 2026
Wastewater treatment removes a large share of those pollutants, but not everything disappears.

— Ryan Brennan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of pollutant

Noun

The Justice Department, for instance, decimated its elite Public Integrity Section in early 2025 while the FBI disbanded a white-collar fraud and public corruption squad based out of its Washington field office.

— PATRICK WHITTLE, Arkansas Online, 24 Sep. 2026
But his support among Palestinians has withered during years of corruption and the sometimes violent advance of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

— Sam Metz, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of corruption

Noun

While this might seem like capitalist sacrilege, Gearin says there’s historical precedent for Indigenous peoples using plant medicine as a tool to navigate the practical demands of the world.

— Claire Hoffman, Rolling Stone, 21 Sep. 2026
To refer to the Manhattanite rock quintet as third best in any context feels like music sacrilege.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of sacrilege

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“Defilement.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defilement. Accessed 29 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of defilement

noun

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