as in violating
to treat (a sacred place or object) shamefully or with great disrespect
vandals desecrated the cemetery last night by covering the tombstones with graffiti
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in blasphemous
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
as in desecration
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desecrating
Verb
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Rice was unavailable for Friday’s game, serving the first game of his six-game league suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.—
Blair Kerkhoff,
Kansas City Star,
6 Sep. 2025 -
Bubba is named in the suit, accused of helping to develop the film using Hulk’s trademarks without permission, and of violating a settlement agreement.—
Madeleine Marr,
Miami Herald,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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This may sound blasphemous for a Fixed Earth sign, but spontaneity works best sometimes.—
Valerie Mesa,
People.com,
23 Aug. 2025
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There was certainly a time when the notion of the Baltimore Orioles getting rid of Adley Rutschman would have been blasphemous.—
Jackson Roberts,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Stringer/Sputnik via AP What To Know Broadly desecration of a flag refers to any action that damages or disrespects it—such as burning it, urinating or defecating on it, defacing it, stepping on it, damaging it with stones or bullets, cutting or ripping it and many others.—
Jasmine Laws,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Aug. 2025
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The decision upheld a Texas Court of Appeals ruling that reversed Gregory Lee Johnson’s conviction under a Texas law banning flag desecration.—
BrieAnna J. Frank,
USA Today,
26 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Any extra trimmings would land somewhere between glib and sacrilegious.—
Sophie Monks Kaufman,
IndieWire,
3 Sep. 2025
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Drinking a Bloody Mary at night just feels wrong and confusing, sacrilegious even, which is hilarious because everything else goes.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
30 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The wrecking begins when Carey (Marvin), Paul’s best friend, ill-advisedly sleeps with Julie—and then, more ill-advisedly still, confesses it to Paul the next day.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Gilliam is not contesting states' rights to ban profane, sexualized or vulgar plates.—
Angele Latham,
The Tennessean,
3 Sep. 2025
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Gilliam is not contesting states' rights to ban profane, sexualized or vulgar plates.—
Maureen Groppe,
USA Today,
1 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Critical wildlife habitat may be put at risk for alteration or wholesale destruction.—
Ryan Gellert,
Time,
9 Sep. 2025
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But tenants have little legal footing to stand on in combating that destruction.—
Max Klaver,
Miami Herald,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The whole this is very slapstick and irreverent, and the story is advanced almost exclusively by wacky deus ex machinas.—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
10 Sep. 2025
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Her voice in the essays is sly and irreverent, knowing and persuasive—all qualities that endeared her to readers, despite her often excessively Manichean tone.—
Anderson Tepper,
The Atlantic,
8 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Desecrating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desecrating. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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