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
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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
as in pernicious
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defiling
Verb
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China’s is arguably the most important; whatever the world’s most-polluting country does will determine the planet’s climate trajectory.—
Ella Nilsen,
CNN Money,
24 Sep. 2025 -
Transition finance, where financial firms actively pursue opportunities to fund polluting companies’ emissions reductions, has become a hot area.—
Justin Worland,
Time,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
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But the remarks follow Russian drone incursions into Poland as well as Russian fighter jets violating Estonian airspace, forcing NATO to intercept them.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
4 Oct. 2025
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Board meetings were also being held in secret, violating state law.—
Lawrence Mower,
Miami Herald,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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But such ads have been shown to support pernicious behaviors and beliefs around food, exercise and body image.—
Mallary Tenore Tarpley,
USA Today,
22 Sep. 2025
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Perhaps the most pernicious aspect of calls for affirming art is their reduction of art to subject matter.—
Garth Greenwell,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Krishna discovers that Kaliya is living beneath the surface of a local pond and poisoning its waters with his venom.—
Seamus Sullivan
September 29,
Literary Hub,
29 Sep. 2025
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Authorities said Boytsov is also accused of poisoning his wife, who is one of the deceased, with the alcohol.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The three cursed housemates were sent to the Exit Room, where their fate would be decided.—
Armando Tinoco,
Deadline,
29 Sep. 2025
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Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree forcing the estranged brothers to confront the cursed toy.—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
26 Sep. 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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In one of many tonally jarring subplots, Vince works out a scam to burn down his dead mother’s house in Brooklyn to collect the insurance money with the help of a corrupt fire marshal.—
Andrew Bernard,
The Washington Examiner,
3 Oct. 2025
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The writer became inspired to counteract his complicity in a corrupt system.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
2 Oct. 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 6 Oct. 2025.
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