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impiety

noun

(ˌ)im-ˈpī-ə-tē How to pronounce impiety (audio)
Definition of impietynext
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impiety
  1. blasphemy
  2. sacrilege
  3. violation
  4. corruption
  5. desecration
  6. cursing
  7. profanation
  8. irreverence
Noun
  • That might have sounded like blasphemy just half a decade ago, but college football is always evolving, and Swinney is a man stuck in time.
    — Austin Perry OutKick, FOXNews.com, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Politicians and preachers denounced them for blasphemy, perversion, and their loud support for civil rights.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of blasphemy
Noun
  • To refer to the Manhattanite rock quintet as third best in any context feels like music sacrilege.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Filming a talk show on a moving train brings its own set of audio and visual problems, but making this show any other way would be sacrilege.
    — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of sacrilege
Noun
  • Under Arkansas law, anyone selling alcohol on a Sunday without a permit can be found guilty of a violation fined up to $250.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Both men were denied parole last year, in part because of their use of contraband cellphones and other violations of prison rules.
    — James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of violation
Noun
  • Because of the high likelihood of corruption, our devices encode messages with enough redundancy that they can be pieced together by the receiving machine despite the errors incurred in transit.
    — Jack Murtagh, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Miami Vice ’85, with a screenplay by Dan Gilroy, explores the glamour and corruption of mid-1980s Miami in an all-new version of Miami Vice, inspired by the pilot episode of the landmark 1984-90 NBC series.
    — Justin Kroll, Deadline, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of corruption
Noun
  • Cutting down a tree is this ultimate symbol of the desecration of the environment, but that wasn’t always the case.
    — Fiction Non Fiction, Literary Hub, 10 Sep. 2026
  • In January 2021, following the discovery of Talina’s remains in Polk County, Arkansas, Bommeli was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and desecration of a human corpse.
    — Veronica Fulton, NBC news, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of desecration
Noun
  • Hoodoo was not only considered a means of assisting people; it has also been associated with hexing or cursing and, in the 18th and 19th centuries, with poisoning.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Danhausen transcended into the mainstream zeitgeist after cursing and un-cursing the New York Knicks en route to the team winning the NBA Championship after a 52-year drought.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
Definition of cursing
Noun
  • Scottish hen parties were deemed to contain ritualistic profanation.
    — Victor J. Blue, Harpers Magazine, 23 Nov. 2025
  • 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
Definition of profanation
Noun
  • The hotel itself is staffed by a small but merry cadre of Lost Boys whose endearing mix of irreverence and can-doism gives the hotel its cool, devil-may-care personality.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Uniting these jokes is a streak of playful irreverence, a facility for tempering challenging ideas with American cultural references, and a reluctance to provide more explanation than necessary.
    — Hershal Pandya, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of irreverence

Browse Nearby Words

impieties
impiety
impinge
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Cite this Entry

“Impiety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impiety. Accessed 19 Sep. 2026.

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