1
as in temporal
not involving religion or religious matters
it was hard to juggle the requirements of church and our more profane duties
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in secular
not showing proper reverence for the holy or sacred
offended by the profane language that her coworkers used so casually
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in obscene
depicting or referring to sexual matters in a way that is unacceptable in polite society
his idea of dinner table conversation is the telling of profane stories about his alleged sexual exploits
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to corrupt
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
the once-lovely landscape had been profaned by ugly factories
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2
as in to misuse
to put to a bad or improper use
profaned his considerable acting talents by appearing in some wretched movies
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3
as in to violate
to treat (a sacred place or object) shamefully or with great disrespect
invading troops profaned the altar by playing poker on it
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of profane
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
16 June 2026
Wembanyama heard boos — and profane chants — from Knicks fans throughout the evening.
—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
9 June 2026
John Anderson,
wsj.com,
4 Apr. 2023
Sean Delahanty, who was colorful, outspoken and sometimes profane in 20 years on Jefferson District Court, has died.
—
Andrew Wolfson,
The Courier-Journal,
28 Jan. 2023
See All Example Sentences for profane
Adjective
No one should be subject to listening to the most degrading and profane words that now seem popular with some people.
—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
16 June 2026
Wembanyama heard boos — and profane chants — from Knicks fans throughout the evening.
—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
9 June 2026
Verb
At the risk of profaning a wonderful show, the second season is even better.
—
John Anderson,
wsj.com,
4 Apr. 2023
Sean Delahanty, who was colorful, outspoken and sometimes profane in 20 years on Jefferson District Court, has died.
—
Andrew Wolfson,
The Courier-Journal,
28 Jan. 2023
See All Example Sentences for profane
Recent Examples of Synonyms for profane
Adjective
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Though editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis (a Yorgos Lanthimos regular) cuts the film with brisk concision, there’s also a welcome temporal elasticity here — the sense that life can change in the blink of an eye, but also stall for undefined passages.
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The researchers fed this millennium-long data into a computer model to determine how much stress has built up along the faults in that temporal window.
Adjective
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Yet as the populations there shrink, populations are booming in less prosperous and less secular regions, including Africa and the Middle East.
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The encyclical has attracted serious attention from secular quarters as well.
Adjective
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Counterculture Yippies would turn up at a 1970 Blood, Sweat & Tears show at Madison Square Garden, carrying obscene banners outside and dumping manure by the front gate.
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Yippies would turn up at a 1970 Blood, Sweat & Tears show at Madison Square Garden, carrying obscene banners outside and dumping manure by the front gate.
Verb
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Forgetting his bond with the land, Mariano awakens the Ch’iqmi, a dark force that corrupts his people.
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Lander has argued Goldman, the multimillionaire heir to the Levi jeans fortune, embodies establishment, corporate interests that corrupt the Democratic Party.
Verb
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Anthropic released Claude Fable 5 to the public earlier this month, with safeguards the company said would reduce the risk of it being misused for cyberattacks or other nefarious purposes.
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This comes six months after a jury found Rinsch guilty of misusing funds in connection with the production of an unfinished Netflix series.
Verb
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Trump said that Iran violated the ceasefire agreement and that US aircraft struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, as well as coastal radar sites.
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But both have accused the other of violating their end of the agreement.
Adjective
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Balogun crashed into Bosnia’s Tarik Muharemović, landing his foot on top of Muharemović’s during the physical match.
-
Hawaiian Tropic’s zinc oxide formula, a physical UV blocker, brushes on with a matte, translucent finish and leaves no white cast on most skin tones.
Adjective
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His father's death during World War II influenced his pursuit of the ministry even amid the officially atheistic communist regime of the Soviet Union, according to his obituary on the OCU website.
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But there has been a recent rise in secular congregations that explicitly mimic religious organizations and rituals to celebrate atheistic worldviews.
Cite this Entry
“Profane.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/profane. Accessed 3 Jul. 2026.
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