as in to violate
to remove the sacred qualities or status of
desanctified the church building and converted it into condos
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Recent Examples of desanctify
Someone may have removed these features in an attempt to desanctify the religious icon, according to a government statement.
—
Nora McGreevy, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 June 2020
Nora McGreevy, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 June 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desanctify
Verb
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In August 2024, the Hales Corners Library Board voted unanimously to keep the books in the library's circulation and concluded Lewis-Lane and library staff did not violate library policies.—
Adrienne Davis,
jsonline.com,
5 Nov. 2025
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But Comey's attorneys raised separate concerns that by using those materials at all, the government may have violated Comey's rights -- not just by reviewing potentially privileged information, but also by revisiting evidence obtained by warrants that would now be considered stale.—
Alexander Mallin,
ABC News,
5 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Aguilar thinks the basilica should be desacralized and turned into a museum.—
Stephania Taladrid,
The New Yorker,
26 Oct. 2019
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Rumor and street culture—jokes, postcards, sayings, bawdy plays performed in saloons—changed the image of the czar and the czarina, desacralized them, before and during the war.—
Olga Ingurazova,
Smithsonian,
29 Sep. 2017
Verb
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Installed in a church, the artwork titled Silentium by French conceptual artist James Calomina, was exhibited in a former church in Toulouse that was deconsecrated.—
The Editors of ARTnews,
ARTnews.com,
6 Nov. 2024
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But the seminal Spanish-language church was deconsecrated by the Archdiocese of New York in January, paving the way for its potential sale, alteration or demolition.—
John Freeman Gill,
New York Times,
2 June 2023
Cite this Entry
“Desanctify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desanctify. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.
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