as in atheistical
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
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
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
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Any extra trimmings would land somewhere between glib and sacrilegious.—
Sophie Monks Kaufman,
IndieWire,
3 Sep. 2025
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Drinking a Bloody Mary at night just feels wrong and confusing, sacrilegious even, which is hilarious because everything else goes.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
30 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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This may sound blasphemous for a Fixed Earth sign, but spontaneity works best sometimes.—
Valerie Mesa,
People.com,
23 Aug. 2025
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There was certainly a time when the notion of the Baltimore Orioles getting rid of Adley Rutschman would have been blasphemous.—
Jackson Roberts,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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In brief, the basic issue is the Second Amendment in a secular country.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Sep. 2025
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What Happens Next Researchers say the secular transition is long‑running and generational, not a sudden shift.—
Jordan King,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Mentorship, Humor And Queer Resilience Reigns structures Outliving Michael as a series of vignettes, each poem distilling a memory that compounds to build a complete portrait of Church, a man of emotional depth and irreverent charm.—
R. Daniel Foster,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
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The submissions tell a story of Massachusetts that is equal parts reverent and irreverent, with Bay Staters leaning on history while having fun with their future.—
Jasmine Baehr,
FOXNews.com,
28 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Impious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impious. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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