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 atheistical
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to misuse
to put to a bad or improper use
profaned his considerable acting talents by appearing in some wretched movies
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of profane
Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2025
In its 91-year history the FCC has routinely reserved its moderation of broadcast TV to regulating lewd or profane content.
—Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 18 Sep. 2025
Steve Marble, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2021
The narrative is that of a leader who has experienced vilification at the hands of enemies who are both secular (and thus profane) and intensely demonic.
—Federico Finchelstein, The New Republic, 3 Nov. 2020
See All Example Sentences for profane
Adjective
Clever and non-profane tee-to-green commentary should be allowed, just not when a player is standing over his ball.
—Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2025
In its 91-year history the FCC has routinely reserved its moderation of broadcast TV to regulating lewd or profane content.
—Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 18 Sep. 2025
Verb
Her husband, the exuberant and often profane former Dodgers manager who won two World Series championships, died Jan. 7 at 93.
—Steve Marble, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2021
The narrative is that of a leader who has experienced vilification at the hands of enemies who are both secular (and thus profane) and intensely demonic.
—Federico Finchelstein, The New Republic, 3 Nov. 2020
See All Example Sentences for profane
Recent Examples of Synonyms for profane
Adjective
-
The novella lacks the temporal markers that indicate how much time has passed between episodes and exhibits an abundance of characters with ruptured psyches.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
30 Oct. 2025
-
Integrative regions such as the temporal poles and insular cortex allow both positive and negative events to fit together, potentially into a framework that facilitates long-term well-being.—
Anthony Vaccaro,
Scientific American,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Beside one of those blandly obscene bidets.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 Oct. 2025
-
But the show avoided an FCC probe as the West Coast delay was censored, and the East Coast broadcast aired after the 6am-10pm window during which obscene content is prohibited on broadcast TV and radio.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
19 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Listers understands how technology can corrupt our leisure activities.—
Tyler Austin Harper,
The Atlantic,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Researchers had previously assumed attackers would need to corrupt a specific percentage of the data, which, for larger models would be millions of documents.—
Beatrice Nolan,
Fortune,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
In the 2000s, Andrew was repeatedly accused of misusing his position as a British trade envoy for his personal advantage.—
Helen Lewis,
The Atlantic,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Even innocent photos can be misused.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Tuesday’s announcement comes after Israel accused Hamas of violating the truce by firing on Israeli forces in Rafah and reneging on promises to return missing hostage remains.—
Reed Albergotti,
semafor.com,
29 Oct. 2025
-
In a complaint filed in 2023, Gannett and the other plaintiffs accused Google of violating federal antitrust laws by abusing its dominant position to control and profit from the technology used by publishers to buy and sell ads across the internet.—
USA TODAY,
USA TODAY,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Harley-Davidson — The motorcycle maker fell 4% after Morgan Stanley cut it to underweight from equal weight, citing lower pricing power and weak secular trends.—
Scott Schnipper,
CNBC,
27 Oct. 2025
-
Most other units have been affected by secular pressures on theatrical moviegoing and linear TV viewing.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Who decides what’s decorous and what’s vulgar?—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
25 Oct. 2025
-
The president has been targeting Jeffries online with offensive and vulgar memes since the pair first had an unsuccessful sit-down meeting in the Oval Office just before the shutdown.—
Zachary Schermele,
USA Today,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The local politicians like Mayor Wu who are staying mum are just compounding cronyism and degrading the livability of the neighborhood.—
Lou Murray,
Boston Herald,
29 Oct. 2025
-
The goal is to understand exactly how and why performance degrades over time.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Profane.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/profane. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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