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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Microplastics are tiny fragments, that can be as small as 1/25,000th of an inch (1 micrometer) and are a pernicious part of the plastic pollution crisis.—
Laura Paddison,
CNN Money,
29 Apr. 2026 -
What is more pernicious than the denial is the tacit acceptance of his behavior in the community, as the community was the lifeblood of his art.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
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As a brand built on ethical fashion on a mission to improve the industry, Everlane—and its CEO—has sold its soul to the devil by associating itself with one (if not the) most polluting fast-fashion player in the world.—
Clara Ludmir,
Forbes.com,
18 May 2026
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Engineers and safety experts are solving problems in a new technology that gets us off expensive and polluting fossil fuels.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
9 May 2026
Verb
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Cuba has said the planes were violating Cuban airspace.—
Carmen Sesin,
NBC news,
20 May 2026
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Driscoll pleaded guilty later in 2010 to violating the order of protection, which was later terminated.—
Ilana Arougheti,
Kansas City Star,
20 May 2026
Adjective
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After witnessing so much destruction, Bear locks himself in the bathroom and tries to end the cursed wish by killing himself.—
Dani Di Placido,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2026
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Instead, the book is closed on one of the most cursed years any franchise has ever endured.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
19 May 2026
Verb
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The chemotherapy doctors are poisoning you.—
Eileen Finan,
PEOPLE,
19 May 2026
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Boys State team Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss are behind Teenage Wasteland, which revisits the story of a group of teenagers in upstate New York, who in the early 1990s make a film that uncovers a conspiracy that is poisoning their community.—
Mia Galuppo,
HollywoodReporter,
14 May 2026
Adjective
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Their jail is strange and unwholesome.—
Robert Rubsam,
The Atlantic,
26 Mar. 2026
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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
Adjective
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The film explores themes of power and coming of age in a corrupt society, with campus culture wars and climate grief at its center.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
16 May 2026
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Dahlia, a disillusioned police aide, breaks into the mansion of the corrupt police chief Bernal and steals the money from his safe, unloading the funds to slum dwellers whose settlement Bernal razed down.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
15 May 2026
Adjective
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And this has lent Margot a debased sort of celebrity.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
6 Apr. 2026
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But the influencer landscape is getting debased and splintered and a bit draining, even for Kylie.—
Nate Freeman,
Vanity Fair,
11 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Defiling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defiling. Accessed 24 May. 2026.
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