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
When Melanson failed to comply with Lino’s instructions, Lino allegedly beat the older man with a baseball bat and then desecrated his corpse.
—
Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald, 5 Aug. 2025
That a woman's life — her body, her dreams, her joy — cannot be desecrated without consequence.
—Ariela Lopez, jsonline.com, 2 Aug. 2025
After desecrating the site, Osbourne was arrested for public intoxication and urination, but was bailed out for $40 and made it to his concert that night on time.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 23 July 2025
By his own account, Hanson engaged in an escalating intimidation campaign to collect, first having videos of cartel beheadings mailed to Cipriani, and then later paying for someone to desecrate Cipriani’s mother’s grave.
—Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for desecrate
Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald, 5 Aug. 2025
That a woman's life — her body, her dreams, her joy — cannot be desecrated without consequence.
—Ariela Lopez, jsonline.com, 2 Aug. 2025
After desecrating the site, Osbourne was arrested for public intoxication and urination, but was bailed out for $40 and made it to his concert that night on time.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 23 July 2025
By his own account, Hanson engaged in an escalating intimidation campaign to collect, first having videos of cartel beheadings mailed to Cipriani, and then later paying for someone to desecrate Cipriani’s mother’s grave.
—Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for desecrate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desecrate
violate
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
Cite this Entry
“Desecrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desecrate. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.
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