as in blasphemy
an act of great disrespect shown to God or to sacred ideas, people, or things the sect has no tolerance for any irreverence directed toward their spiritual leader

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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 irreverence Very carefully, unless your boss is Graydon Carter, whose gift for irreverence and self-deprecation is almost as legendary as his hair. Jim Kelly, Air Mail, 29 Mar. 2025 The film’s a strange but potent mix of irreverence and patriotism. Keith Phipps, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2025 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. Ew Staff, EW.com, 2 Mar. 2025 The film’s a strange but potent mix of irreverence and patriotism. Keith Phipps, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for irreverence
Recent Examples of Synonyms for irreverence
Noun
  • Pakistan's Christians, barely 2 percent of the population, face lynchings over false accusations of blasphemy, with 2024 seeing churches burned and families displaced.
    Kevin Sabet, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 May 2025
  • For this theme to have been chosen only after the tragic passing of pioneering fashion icon, long-time Vogue editor-at-large, and unmistakable dandy, Andre Leon Talley, is a sort of blasphemy.
    Akilah Sailers, Essence, 28 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Such a transformation would represent an irrevocable loss: a profound sacrilege not only to the city’s rich history but also to the cultural legacy for the future generations.
    Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 23 Feb. 2025
  • For many liberals and radicals, beginning with Lord Byron, Elgin was a vandal who had committed sacrilege.
    Ralph Leonard, The Atlantic, 4 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • The complaint at the crux of Lopez v. Apple is a violation of privacy.
    Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 15 May 2025
  • That's a seeming violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Noyb alleged.
    Ashley Belanger – May 14, ArsTechnica, 14 May 2025
Noun
  • Yet Jesus becomes angered by the desecration of the temple and begins tipping over the merchants' tables in the holy place while wielding a righteous whip.
    Erin Jensen, USA Today, 3 May 2025
  • In the first of thirteen live, three-hour shows (with Nelle sitting in the studio audience), the thirty-five-year-old Reagan, accompanied by four Black actors, dramatically reenacted Klan cross-burnings, beatings and shootings, and the desecration of synagogues.
    Richard D. Mahoney, JSTOR Daily, 30 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • 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
Noun
  • The Boston City Council will take up a resolution this week that calls for disgraced Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson’s removal from the body in the wake of her guilty plea to two federal corruption charges tied to a City Hall kickback scheme.
    Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 13 May 2025
  • However, rumors swirled about his luxury lifestyle and possible corruption and eventually led to federal charges in 2007.
    David Matthews, New York Daily News, 12 May 2025
Noun
  • Sarandos, playing a cheeky version of himself, delivers a sharp line about contractual award show shout-outs before signing off with an insult.
    Clayton Davis, Variety, 7 May 2025
  • People hurled insults as the police started taking down the barricades.
    Carolyn Komatsoulis, Idaho Statesman, 7 May 2025
Noun
  • Scottish hen parties were deemed to contain ritualistic profanation.
    Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harpers Magazine, 28 Mar. 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

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Cite this Entry

“Irreverence.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/irreverence. Accessed 23 May. 2025.

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