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
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
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
But the books complement each other in isolating a specific strain of mid-century masculinity, one that’s a strange mix of entitlement and passivity, austerity and impiety, dutifulness and indifference.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 20 Sep. 2024
The impieties are to be taken as possibilities, not as actual truths.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2023
Yet impieties are explosive, which may explain why comic careers oscillate between in and out, as with those of Lenny Bruce and Andrew Dice Clay—one going from sick to saintly, the other from provocatively transgressive to vehemently taboo, in short order.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2023
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
Asclepius was a gifted healer, too gifted perhaps, and he was killed by Zeus for the impiety of raising the dead.
—Teju Cole, New York Times, 12 Sep. 2023
Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024
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
But the books complement each other in isolating a specific strain of mid-century masculinity, one that’s a strange mix of entitlement and passivity, austerity and impiety, dutifulness and indifference.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 20 Sep. 2024
The impieties are to be taken as possibilities, not as actual truths.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2023
Yet impieties are explosive, which may explain why comic careers oscillate between in and out, as with those of Lenny Bruce and Andrew Dice Clay—one going from sick to saintly, the other from provocatively transgressive to vehemently taboo, in short order.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2023
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
Asclepius was a gifted healer, too gifted perhaps, and he was killed by Zeus for the impiety of raising the dead.
—Teju Cole, New York Times, 12 Sep. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impiety
Noun
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In 2011, as governor of Punjab, Pakistan’s largest province, he was assassinated by his own bodyguard for defending a Christian woman accused of blasphemy.—
Aatish Taseer,
Time,
15 July 2025
-
Earlier, during his days with Monty Python, Gilliam co-wrote biblical black comedy The Life of Brian, whose themes of religious satire drew accusations of blasphemy and protests.—
Nancy Tartaglione,
Deadline,
7 July 2025
Noun
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And still, Wankdorf Stadium heaved with Portuguese song, as if any other noise outside of a goal celebration might border on sacrilege.—
Megan Feringa,
New York Times,
4 July 2025
-
But replacing barley malt with rice still might strike some beer aficionados as sacrilege.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
2 July 2025
Noun
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When an agent malfunctions in a production environment, the potential consequences include operational disruptions, security breaches, compliance violations and reputational damage.—
Olga Megorskaya,
Forbes.com,
25 July 2025
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The flimsy pretense for the raid was that some NABU officers had been involved in traffic accidents and violations.—
Steve Cortes,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 July 2025
Noun
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Some residents also accuse local authorities of corruption during the building of the facility.—
Katya Soldak,
Forbes.com,
5 Aug. 2025
-
The Palestinian leader's two-decade rule has been increasingly subject to claims of corruption, calls for new elections and challenges from both Israel and Hamas.—
Tom O'Connor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Encampments, flag desecration, face coverings, and masks intended to conceal identity are prohibited.—
Tiffani Jackson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
24 July 2025
-
Heidi Dutton, 19, entered a guilty plea in May to two counts of first-degree-murder, conspiracy, and two counts of desecration of a human corpse in the deaths of Deborah and Larry Dutton, who were her biological grandparents and adoptive parents.—
Chris Spargo,
People.com,
11 June 2025
Noun
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Scottish hen parties were deemed to contain ritualistic profanation.—
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi,
Harpers Magazine,
28 Mar. 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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Marking the two’s first partnership and imbuing the irreverence of both brands, the range features ten pieces of jewels and five pieces of resort wear with an oceanic theme — designed to be worn with tousled beach waves and sand between your toes.—
Angela Lei,
Forbes.com,
13 July 2025
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A lot of welcome Hotel Art Thief motifs recur here — an amazing old guy, a fake podcast recording session, POV gun violence (thanks to a cop body cam), and a plotline pulling all the irreverence together — subtly seeded throughout the series and ultimately leading to violence.—
Hershal Pandya,
Vulture,
26 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Impiety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impiety. Accessed 9 Aug. 2025.
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