1
as in corruptions
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in contaminants
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defilements
Noun
-
Researchers are using high-pressure processing techniques to extract the compound while removing contaminants.—
Bri Buckley,
CBS News,
12 May 2026 -
The year after Ikezoe moved to New York, an earthquake and tsunami in Japan caused an electrical grid failure, leading the nuclear power plant in Fukushima to release radioactive contaminants in the surrounding region.—
Alex Greenberger,
ARTnews.com,
11 May 2026
Noun
-
Each pod is filled with native wetland plants whose roots filter out pollutants like phosphorus and nitrogen from the water, eventually making their way to the Chattahoochee River.—
Joshua Cole,
CBS News,
11 May 2026
-
Those backup generators, often powered using combustion turbines, are associated with pollution in the form of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, particulate matter and some hazardous air pollutants, according to the EPA.—
Sofi Zeman
May 11,
Kansas City Star,
11 May 2026
Noun
-
Meanwhile, 24 eateries, including a local cafe, received citations for health code violations such as brown residue in the ice machine, a lack of quaternary ammonia test strips and improperly cooled food.—
Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado
May 15,
Sacbee.com,
15 May 2026
-
Commercial and industrial customers face $500 penalties for a first offense and $1,500 for additional violations.—
Nora O'Neill,
Charlotte Observer,
15 May 2026
Noun
-
Surfaces are not simple and can exhibit all sorts of weird properties due to missing atoms, crystalline boundaries, and impurities from fabrication techniques.—
Stephen Clark,
ArsTechnica,
15 May 2026
-
Those impurities may have masked the true adsorption capabilities of the materials.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
8 May 2026
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.
Cite this Entry
“Defilements.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defilements. Accessed 18 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
