as in to violate
to treat (a sacred place or object) shamefully or with great disrespect
vandals desecrated the cemetery last night by covering the tombstones with graffiti
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Recent Examples of desecrate
Read More: The Battle for Our Memory Is the Battle for Our Country
But debasing our history through censorship and ideological cherry-picking insults the memory of the nine saints who were murdered at Mother Emanuel, desecrating its sacred space all over again.
—
Kevin Sack, Time, 3 June 2025
After unknowingly desecrating a sacred burial ground, 17-year-old Dashon Wallace (McLaughlin) and his family become targets of the Mbirwi, an ancient spirit summoned to protect the local community from the invasion of foreigners.
—Peter White, Deadline, 7 May 2025
Anyone who desecrates these sacred places will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
—Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 16 Apr. 2025
Now 23, Aponte pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge as part of a plea deal that saw prosecutors drop additional counts against her, including endangering, hindering, and disturbing or desecrating human remains, court records show.
—Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desecrate
Kevin Sack, Time, 3 June 2025
After unknowingly desecrating a sacred burial ground, 17-year-old Dashon Wallace (McLaughlin) and his family become targets of the Mbirwi, an ancient spirit summoned to protect the local community from the invasion of foreigners.
—Peter White, Deadline, 7 May 2025
Anyone who desecrates these sacred places will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
—Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 16 Apr. 2025
Now 23, Aponte pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge as part of a plea deal that saw prosecutors drop additional counts against her, including endangering, hindering, and disturbing or desecrating human remains, court records show.
—Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desecrate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desecrate
violate
Verb
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However, a Minnesota court struck down the binary trigger ban, arguing that the legislature violated the state constitution’s single-subject clause by burying the ban inside a sprawling spending bill.—
Mia Cathell,
The Washington Examiner,
4 Sep. 2025
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And Congress is unlikely to grant him new tariff powers after the courts just ruled that doing so unilaterally violated the separation of powers.—
Brett Erickson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Desecrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desecrate. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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