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
Crumb desecrated sleek American surfaces in a way that felt disturbing and profound, especially to the many young people also dropping acid.
—
Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 14 Apr. 2025
These things could be coincidental, or could, as the main character suggests, be the work of fairies upset that their pools were desecrated in this way.
—Deborah Treisman, New Yorker, 18 May 2025
The audit also noted a Jewish cemetery in Waterbury that was vandalized with more than 12 gravestones desecrated.
—Sean Krofssik, Hartford Courant, 22 Apr. 2025
Fernandez was charged with first-degree murder, desecrating human remains and multiple weapons crimes.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desecrate
Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 14 Apr. 2025
These things could be coincidental, or could, as the main character suggests, be the work of fairies upset that their pools were desecrated in this way.
—Deborah Treisman, New Yorker, 18 May 2025
The audit also noted a Jewish cemetery in Waterbury that was vandalized with more than 12 gravestones desecrated.
—Sean Krofssik, Hartford Courant, 22 Apr. 2025
Fernandez was charged with first-degree murder, desecrating human remains and multiple weapons crimes.
—Joseph Wilkinson, 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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Earlier in the week, perhaps the most notable setback was a ruling by the Senate parliamentarian that a cap on health care provider taxes, which is projected to save billions of dollars in federal Medicaid spending, violated the Senate’s Byrd Rule.—
Alexander Bolton,
The Hill,
29 June 2025
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The Senate parliamentarian had ruled that these provisions governing current student loan borrowers violated senate reconciliation rules.—
Adam S. Minsky,
Forbes.com,
29 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Desecrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desecrate. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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