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
Relevance
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
-
Since fast fashion exists to keep up with rapidly changing trends, a striking 85% of clothes end up in landfills every year, polluting the environment.—
Grace Butler,
USA TODAY,
14 Feb. 2025 -
Justices said that without a specific law, the agency cannot force the entire power generation industry to move away from fossil fuels toward less-polluting energy sources.—
Camila Domonoske,
NPR,
12 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Even in districts that have staff dedicated to teaching Black history, some teachers are afraid of violating state law, according to Brian Knowles, who oversees African American, Holocaust and Latino studies for the Palm Beach County school district.—
Kate Payne,
Orlando Sentinel,
23 Dec. 2024
-
That year, the campaign finance regulator separately found that Wyss’s groups failed to provide evidence of certain grant agreements upon conservatives accusing him of violating laws on foreign nationals making donations.—
Gabe Kaminsky,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
22 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
The direct cost of the tariffs on aerospace is estimated to be as high as $5 Billion, but the real cost is far more pernicious.—
Jerrold Lundquist,
Forbes.com,
30 Mar. 2025
-
Many scandals arise from the occasion of these activities, and adulteries and other outrageous crimes are committed as a clear offence to God, a very serious danger to the souls of those committing them, and a pernicious example to others.—
The Editors,
JSTOR Daily,
27 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Their reasoning is that these products are poisoning Americans.—
Ron Estes,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2025
-
An Aurora dentist accused of fatally poisoning his wife in 2023 allegedly tried to pay a fellow jail inmate $20,000 to kill the case's lead investigator, prosecutors said in court Friday.—
Axios Denver,
Axios,
18 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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As the cursed descendants of Eve, women deserved it.—
Sandra Dallas,
Denver Post,
13 July 2025
-
The Ultimate Edition does a lot to smooth out the confused plotting, but even in the theatrical cut, Batman v Superman feels like a cursed vision of superheroes plagued by fears around self-preservation and cruelty.—
Rory Doherty,
Vulture,
11 July 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
By mid-afternoon the weather turned downright unwholesome.—
Arthur Grahame,
Outdoor Life,
4 June 2025
Adjective
-
After decades when Ukraine was seen as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, cleaning up its government has been held up as the most important condition for Kyiv to join the European Union and integrate more broadly with the West.—
Olena Harmash,
USA Today,
23 July 2025
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Lunn’s brand of reform disrupted the corrupt and complacent, empowered talent without regard to political allegiance, and relentlessly focused on the common good of his constituents.—
Time,
Time,
22 July 2025
Adjective
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Benny and the Forbidden Garden, a 28-page book conceptualized and written by high-schoolers on the Placer County Youth Commission, follows a bunny who starts school and encounters a forbidden garden lush with intoxicating flowers.—
Calista Oetama,
Sacbee.com,
16 June 2025
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Her investigation reveals forbidden rituals and buried wartime secrets connected to a sealed cave, with supernatural forces closing in around her.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
15 May 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Defiling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defiling. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.
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