profanes

verb

present tense third-person singular of profane
1
as in degrades
to lower in character, dignity, or quality the once-lovely landscape had been profaned by ugly factories

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in abuses
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 violates
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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for profanes
  1. degrades
  2. abuses
  3. violates
  4. corrupts
  5. misuses
  6. desecrates
  7. humiliates
  8. subverts
Verb
  • According to fragrance company Goldfield & Banks, an 18-degree increase in temperature degrades perfume twice as fast.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 1 Nov. 2026
  • For example, Arnold and his colleagues discovered a technique that degrades proteins that hold synapses together, deleting them from neurons en masse.
    — Simon Makin, Scientific American, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of degrades
Verb
  • Anyone who repeatedly abuses AI tools may soon find Claude giving them the silent treatment.
    — James Peckham, PC Magazine, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Detectives will continue investigating these cases aggressively, and anyone who abuses their position with a child will be held accountable.
    — Brittany Miller, FOXNews.com, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of abuses
Verb
  • Among them, Carter found that the request violates federal law precluding altering of election rules on the eve of an election.
    — Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026
  • The lawsuit argues the change violates the Administrative Procedure Act because it was adopted without explanation and the First Amendment, which protects lawyers' ability to advise people of their legal rights and seek prospective clients.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of violates
Verb
  • Forgetting his bond with the land, Mariano awakens the Ch’iqmi, a dark force that corrupts his people.
    — Kevin Giraud, Variety, 25 June 2026
  • One nanny will try to get to the bottom of it before all the partying, power and privilege corrupts her.
    — Denise Petski, Deadline, 21 Apr. 2026
Definition of corrupts
Verb
  • The services are designed to help monitor for potential identity theft and provide assistance if someone misuses their personal information.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Jungles said any officer who misuses the technology should be held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
    — Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of misuses
Verb
  • His name no longer desecrates this sacred memorial, which belongs to the American people.
    — Anastasia Tsioulcas, NPR, 8 July 2026
  • Nothing beats cuteness except watching violence be enacted upon the cuteness; like an aural Happy Tree Friends, Skulls tosses pom-poms of fuzz into the sky then desecrates them.
    — Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 17 Dec. 2025
Definition of desecrates
Verb
  • Filming a scene in which Isaiah humiliates Cam, Withers asked Wayans to crack jokes about Kionte’s death — the defining event of Withers’ life, and his lowest point.
    — Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Diomande just humiliates fullbacks.
    — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 12 June 2026
Definition of humiliates
Verb
  • If Blyth makes good use of his own amiability, Whitford subverts his.
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 29 Oct. 2026
  • This places the audience alongside the Konyaks, and subverts the traditional, colonial cinematic gaze in the vein of Filipino maestro Lav Diaz.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of subverts
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.

Browse Nearby Words

profaned
profanes
profaning
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Profanes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/profanes. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of quondam

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

The Words of the Week - Nov. 6

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All