as in blasphemy
an act of great disrespect shown to God or to sacred ideas, people, or things
the unspeakable impiety of spitting in a church
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Recent Examples of impiety
Even aside from Trump’s own enthusiastic personal immorality and impiety, his political style — the pugnacious smear artist and demagogic braggart — was the antithesis of what evangelicals had sought before.
—
Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 23 Sep. 2025
By one hand, he is bound to himself, to his impiety, his recklessness, his envy and pride, his guilt and spite.
—Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024
Clouzot supplied that insight in strong visual terms: Fresnay’s conflicting impiety and righteous anger and so much dissatisfaction and panic among the townsfolk.
—Armond White, National Review, 20 Nov. 2024
If Socrates were still around (Letters, Nov. 3), he wouldn’t be canceled for impiety and corrupting the youth.
—Stephen Borkowski, WSJ, 7 Nov. 2023
Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 23 Sep. 2025
By one hand, he is bound to himself, to his impiety, his recklessness, his envy and pride, his guilt and spite.
—Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024
Clouzot supplied that insight in strong visual terms: Fresnay’s conflicting impiety and righteous anger and so much dissatisfaction and panic among the townsfolk.
—Armond White, National Review, 20 Nov. 2024
If Socrates were still around (Letters, Nov. 3), he wouldn’t be canceled for impiety and corrupting the youth.
—Stephen Borkowski, WSJ, 7 Nov. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impiety
Noun
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Another young man, Mashal Khan, a university student and poet, was lynched by a mob of fellow students who accused him of blasphemy.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Jan. 2026
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As depicted in the movie, Lee was arrested multiple times for blasphemy and disturbing the peace.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
24 Jan. 2026
Noun
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At issue was Sheikh Dibo’s description of the prayer that locals tend to say when visiting a grave; to the ISIS member, such prayers were sacrilege.—
Anand Gopal,
New Yorker,
28 Feb. 2026
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That’s the ultimate Hollywood sacrilege.—
Pat Saperstein,
Variety,
20 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Maricopa County health inspectors cited nine metro Phoenix gas stations and markets for several priority food safety violations during the week of March 2.—
Paige Moore,
AZCentral.com,
19 Mar. 2026
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By Rachel Smith Environmental groups said the state of Colorado is not doing enough to stop ongoing pollution violations from the Suncor refinery.—
Rachel Smith,
CBS News,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Tisza is not particularly progressive, and its platform is generally considered center-right, eschewing cultural issues for a campaign laser-targeted on corruption in government.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
The Washington Examiner,
17 Mar. 2026
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Polls give Magyar's Tisza party a double-digit lead with Hungarians weary of years of corruption accusations, clashes with the EU and economic stagnation.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Brothers Keith and Terrence Nicks were found guilty by separate juries of desecration of human remains, removal of human remains and removal of more than 10 gravestones and markers.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Feb. 2026
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Later that day, her 25-year-old son, Khadir Jones, was arrested and charged with desecration of human remains, My Central Jersey reported.—
Muri Assunção,
New York Daily News,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
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And as Siniaková showed emotion of her own in the joy of vanquishing such a favorite, Andreeva started her walk out of the stadium that would end in cursing and acrimony.—
James Hansen,
New York Times,
10 Mar. 2026
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People went ballistic—cursing, yelling, screaming, all kinds of threats.—
Andrew Norman Wilson,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Scottish hen parties were deemed to contain ritualistic profanation.—
Victor J. Blue,
Harpers Magazine,
23 Nov. 2025
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No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move; ’Twere profanation of our joys To tell the laity our love.—
John Edgar Wideman,
The New Yorker,
8 July 2021
Noun
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Conan O’Brien hosted for the second straight year, with the right amount of bratty irreverence.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
16 Mar. 2026
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Shot through the lens of director Yorgos Lanthimos' darkly comedic irreverence, this is a (gloriously) nasty piece of work, and Colman is more than willing to get her hands dirty.—
Darren Franich,
Entertainment Weekly,
15 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Impiety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impiety. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.
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