as in pernicious
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Dissimilar Words
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
Adjective
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Punishing Kelly is extremely pernicious political retaliation.—
David A. Graham,
The Atlantic,
5 Jan. 2026 -
Not only does the extant relationship between art and commerce imply no causal relationship between commercial performance and literary quality, but this false implication is itself a pernicious impediment to both the creation and profitable production of great art.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Dec. 2025
Verb
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The evidence is overwhelming and very difficult for high-polluting foreign governments to credibly challenge.—
Chip Lamarca,
Sun Sentinel,
6 Jan. 2026
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Some in the industry are frustrated, saying opponents are spreading falsehoods about data centers — such as polluting water and air — and are difficult to overcome.—
Marc Levy,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the ceasefire.—
Samy Magdy,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Jan. 2026
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The 22-year-old woman died while in police custody after being detained for allegedly violating dress codes.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
11 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Notably, season 2 concludes with the Shibuya Incident, an event that left Tokyo in ruins and resulted in cursed spirits killing civilians across the city, according to Crunchyroll.—
Christopher Rudolph,
PEOPLE,
8 Jan. 2026
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On Tuesday night in Buffalo, in a battle of cursed expansion cousins, the team representing the NHL’s most overdue rebuilding effort solidly bested the league’s most virulently anti-rebuild organization, the Vancouver Canucks, by a 5-3 scoreline that flattered the road side.—
Thomas Drance,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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In one case, in the year before Makandal’s death, a servant in Saint-Domingue named Médor was arrested for poisoning his enslaver to obtain his freedom.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Jan. 2026
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In a recent study, however, researchers at Yale found that interoception helped mice avoid poisoning themselves.—
The New York Times News Service Syndicate,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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But unlike Materialists, those movies—pictures like Leo McCarey’s The Awful Truth or Preston Sturges’ The Palm Beach Story—emerged in a time when Hollywood censors were keeping a close eye on movies’ ideology, determined to protect audiences from unwholesome influences.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
13 June 2025
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By mid-afternoon the weather turned downright unwholesome.—
Arthur Grahame,
Outdoor Life,
4 June 2025
Adjective
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Which makes Shelley Joseph today’s poster gal for the corrupt double standards in the Massachusetts legal system.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
8 Nov. 2025
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Trump is running the most brazenly corrupt administration in modern history.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
8 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Only the first is still fashionable, and the last has been so debased, misused, and weaponized over the centuries as to be almost unspeakable in polite company.—
Zadie Smith,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
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But in recent years, acts of brazen violence have been the grim drumbeat of a debased national politics.—
Eric Cortellessa,
Time,
11 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Defiling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defiling. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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