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
Nothing beats cuteness except watching violence be enacted upon the cuteness; like an aural Happy Tree Friends, Skulls tosses pom-poms of fuzz into the sky then desecrates them.
—
Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 17 Dec. 2025
In 1993, White Supremacists in Billings desecrated a Jewish cemetery, sent bomb threats to a synagogue and threw a brick at a menorah in the window of a five-year-old Jewish boy.
—David Goldman, CNN Money, 16 Dec. 2025
Public monuments and art were desecrated all over the country.
—Michael Bruening, The Conversation, 3 Dec. 2025
Never in the storied history of MomTok have the core brand values been this desecrated.
—Olivia Crandall, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desecrate
Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 17 Dec. 2025
In 1993, White Supremacists in Billings desecrated a Jewish cemetery, sent bomb threats to a synagogue and threw a brick at a menorah in the window of a five-year-old Jewish boy.
—David Goldman, CNN Money, 16 Dec. 2025
Public monuments and art were desecrated all over the country.
—Michael Bruening, The Conversation, 3 Dec. 2025
Never in the storied history of MomTok have the core brand values been this desecrated.
—Olivia Crandall, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desecrate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desecrate
violate
Verb
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In February, for instance, the Department of Justice joined a lawsuit brought by the 1776 Project Foundation, alleging that the Los Angeles Unified School District had violated the law by conditioning funding on the basis of student race.—
Robert Schmad,
The Washington Examiner,
9 Mar. 2026
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Indiana has been at the center of the tanking discussion in the NBA after being fined $100,000 for violating the league’s player participation policy.—
Jason Anderson,
Sacbee.com,
9 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Desecrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desecrate. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.
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