as in atheistic
not showing proper reverence for the holy or sacred
an impious act that horrified their pious mother
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Recent Examples of impious
While no formal announcement has been made to update its longstanding alcohol ban, Andrew Leber of Tulane University said this is in line with the Kingdom’s past approach to such potentially impious reforms.
—
Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2025
The only true dictionary is the lost one, the dictionary of the language that perished when the impious tower was built: the original language, God’s language.
—Mariana Dimópulos, Harpers Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025
This game must have seemed profane to the Greeks, or even impious.
—Simone Weil, Harper's Magazine, 2 July 2024
Both narratives, private and public, differently restrict our access, so the ideal historian will need great tact and an impious curiosity.
—James Wood, The New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2023
Sarah Thompson, the MFA’s curator of Japanese Art, and curatorial assistant Kendall DeBoer, who put the show’s more than 350 works together, deserve credit for being impious, not reverent.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Mar. 2023
To cut short these death throes is both impious (for those who believe) and immoral (for anyone).
—Michel Houellebecq, Harper’s Magazine , 6 Jan. 2023
Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2025
The only true dictionary is the lost one, the dictionary of the language that perished when the impious tower was built: the original language, God’s language.
—Mariana Dimópulos, Harpers Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025
This game must have seemed profane to the Greeks, or even impious.
—Simone Weil, Harper's Magazine, 2 July 2024
Both narratives, private and public, differently restrict our access, so the ideal historian will need great tact and an impious curiosity.
—James Wood, The New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2023
Sarah Thompson, the MFA’s curator of Japanese Art, and curatorial assistant Kendall DeBoer, who put the show’s more than 350 works together, deserve credit for being impious, not reverent.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Mar. 2023
To cut short these death throes is both impious (for those who believe) and immoral (for anyone).
—Michel Houellebecq, Harper’s Magazine , 6 Jan. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impious
Adjective
-
Not playing Notre Dame anymore is sacrilegious.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Jan. 2026
-
That some do not agree with our message does not render our display sacrilegious or is the cause of any 'scandal' to the faithful.—
David Chiu,
PEOPLE,
16 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
Ja Morant Let’s get blasphemous.—
Law Murray,
New York Times,
2 Feb. 2026
-
The Satanic Verses stirred controversy after some considered its portrayal of the Prophet Muhammed blasphemous.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
19 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The protesters included secular left-wingers and nationalists as well as Islamists, but Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a fundamentalist cleric at that time exiled in France, emerged as the movement's undisputed figurehead.—
The Week UK,
TheWeek,
8 Mar. 2026
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The five-star analyst considers growing adoption of agentic AI as the next potential secular catalyst for Palo Alto.—
TipRanks.com Staff,
CNBC,
8 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Much like Catastrophe, Derry Girls combines irreverent farce with weightier issues that sometimes take you by surprise but never betray the series’ light-hearted metier.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Mar. 2026
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She can currently be seen in the irreverent comedy, Idiotka.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
4 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Wild rhythms evoke the rupture of that earth, making way for the pagan rituals that herald the arrival of spring.—
Luis Palomares,
Miami Herald,
27 Feb. 2026
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The group – which touts itself as a pagan collective that worships Norse gods – also took credit for originally catapulting Springfield onto the national stage by amplifying ugly memes about the Haitians.—
Caitlin Hu,
CNN Money,
20 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Impious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impious. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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