as in blasphemous
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as in desecration
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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
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Recent Examples of desecrating
Melanie Lidman, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026
This week’s discovery of the antisemitic graffiti follows the arrest of two teenage vandals for desecrating a Brooklyn playground in a Jewish neighborhood with more than 50 swastikas in January.
—Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 6 May 2026
And a coke-snorting, heirloom-desecrating, funeral-crashing adversary at that.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 6 Mar. 2026
With the help of that tiny clipping of moss, the defendants were eventually convicted of desecrating human remains in 2015.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 5 Mar. 2026
Gonzales-Rosales was charged with killing and desecrating a woman, his neighbor, on Easter in 2023.
—Ryan Oehrli, Charlotte Observer, 6 Nov. 2025
Verb
The case intensifies international scrutiny of Israel’s treatment of religious minorities, following recent incidents of soldiers desecrating Christian religious symbols in Lebanon.
—Melanie Lidman, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026
This week’s discovery of the antisemitic graffiti follows the arrest of two teenage vandals for desecrating a Brooklyn playground in a Jewish neighborhood with more than 50 swastikas in January.
—Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 6 May 2026
And a coke-snorting, heirloom-desecrating, funeral-crashing adversary at that.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 6 Mar. 2026
With the help of that tiny clipping of moss, the defendants were eventually convicted of desecrating human remains in 2015.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 5 Mar. 2026
Gonzales-Rosales was charged with killing and desecrating a woman, his neighbor, on Easter in 2023.
—Ryan Oehrli, Charlotte Observer, 6 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desecrating
Adjective
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This way of approaching the story would help make its portrait of Jesus all the more human, and, to some, all the more blasphemous.—
Isaac Butler,
New Yorker,
30 May 2026
-
Borderline blasphemous, for an undrafted rookie.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
8 May 2026
Noun
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Gerlach is facing nearly 500 charges — including burglary, abuse of a corpse and desecration of monuments — tied to a disturbing investigation at Mount Moriah Cemetery near Philadelphia, the outlet reported.—
Sophia Compton,
FOXNews.com,
20 Apr. 2026
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Against desecration of our flag bill 4.—
Gary Franks,
Hartford Courant,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Both Israel and Hezbollah — which was not party to the ceasefire — accuse each other daily of violating the truce.—
Khaled Wassef,
CBS News,
3 June 2026
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Section 301 allows the USTR to investigate countries potentially violating other nations’ trade agreements or practices that hurt US business.—
David Goldman,
CNN Money,
3 June 2026
Adjective
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In any other context, a house of God smattered with people staring at their phones, trusting AI to speak to them, might feel sacrilegious.—
Andrew R. Chow,
Time,
26 May 2026
-
Call me sacrilegious, but there’s one place that a King’s Hawaiian roll tastes even better than the altar rail, and that’s at the beach.—
Betsy Cribb Watson,
Southern Living,
25 May 2026
Noun
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At least, there was a lot less wrecking.—
Alex Zietlow,
Charlotte Observer,
13 Feb. 2026
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The Ravens haven’t really had that game-wrecking pass rusher since Terrell Suggs was in his prime.—
The Athletic NFL Staff,
New York Times,
9 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Directed by Nicolas Athane and Marco Nguyen, Jim Queen is a crass, profane, giddily stupid romp through a heap of stereotypes about gay life in Paris.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
17 May 2026
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This is all, of course, a provocation, a way of merging the sacred and profane, and asking which is which.—
Megan Garber,
The Atlantic,
12 May 2026
Noun
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She was arrested at a hotel near the barn and booked at the Clark County Juvenile Hall on 12 counts of animal cruelty, including intentionally aiming or torturing a horse, as well as three counts of malicious destruction of property.—
Emily Mae Czachor,
CBS News,
1 June 2026
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The teen, who was at a nearby hotel, was taken into custody and booked for 12 counts of willful/malicious kill/maim/torture animal -- horse and three counts of felony malicious destruction of private property over $5,000, police said.—
Emily Shapiro,
ABC News,
1 June 2026
Adjective
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This turn was frankly difficult to digest in a show that’s otherwise adopted a stance of irreverent insouciance toward other hot topics.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
1 June 2026
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Art world figure Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, who gained notoriety with pithy, irreverent gossip and commentary delivered under the pseudonym Jerry Gogosian, was found deceased in a São Paulo hotel room on May 31.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Desecrating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desecrating. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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