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defiling 1 of 2

adjective

as in pernicious

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defiling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of defile
1
as in polluting
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 violating
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for defiling
  1. pernicious
  2. polluting
  3. violating
  4. cursed
  5. poisoning
  6. unwholesome
  7. corrupt
  8. debased
Adjective
  • But the specific way markets are taking root—with much of the population too poor to participate meaningfully, with no rule of law, and with the gap between winners and losers steadily widening—is pernicious for the country’s future.
    — Will Freeman, Foreign Affairs, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Most sinister of all, the documentary suggests Musk’s real goal in getting into the White House was to access data on all Americans, once again to feed his pernicious AI dreams.
    — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of pernicious
Verb
  • Now 64, the executive chairman of $17 billion iron ore giant Fortescue is intent on upturning age-old practices in the heavily polluting $3 trillion mining industry.
    — Vivienne Walt, Fortune, 23 Sep. 2026
  • The latter regulation is the state’s backstop climate trading program that puts an ever-stricter cap on emissions across sectors and allows polluting businesses to buy and trade allowances to meet it.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of polluting
Verb
  • The 230-page lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Northern California, accuses Meta of fraud and false advertising, along with violating other consumer protection laws in various states.
    — Queenie Wong, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Four years ago this week, a 22-year-old woman named Mahsa Jina Amini died after being detained by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the country’s compulsory hijab rules.
    — Pegah Banihashemi, Chicago Tribune, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of violating
Adjective
  • The cursed island town in Widow’s Bay has summoned all kinds of supernatural entities, much to the dismay of its residents.
    — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Circus of the Damned — An evil ringmaster tries to restore his cursed carnival with a new cast of clowns.
    — Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of cursed
Verb
  • The court heard how the former nurse, now 36, attacked babies in her care by administering air into their blood and stomachs, overfeeding them with milk, physically assaulting them and poisoning them with insulin.
    — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Former Titans scout Blaise Taylor received consecutive life sentences after his conviction for poisoning his pregnant girlfriend.
    — Chris Branch, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of poisoning
Adjective
  • Their jail is strange and unwholesome.
    — Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2026
  • Grievous bodily harm, nonconsensual drugging, murder, yes…still, thank god there’s nothing unwholesome here, like say a man in a dress.
    — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026
Definition of unwholesome
Adjective
  • Many choose to make use of a corrupt brokerage system, where people with connections in the foreign ministry and other regime appendages facilitate large bribes for new, and sometimes fake, documentation.
    — Andrew Nachemson, The Dial, 22 Sep. 2026
  • But already the thought tugged at me that the scales that had turned were not celestial, but legal, the workings of the same system condemned in the camp as corrupt and broken.
    — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of corrupt
Adjective
  • The plates feature debased imprints of the same signature shapes, creating a dialogue with the glasses.
    — Sofia Celeste, Footwear News, 17 Sep. 2026
  • That wasn’t its only subject; comedy and power and misogyny and creativity and intergenerational conflict and work ethic and, especially in its last few seasons, the debased state of the entertainment industry were all richly explored through lines.
    — Judy Berman, Time, 8 July 2026
Definition of debased
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Defiling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defiling. Accessed 26 Sep. 2026.

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