as in atheistical
not showing proper reverence for the holy or sacred
a sacrilegious, obscene joke—and told in church at that!
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Recent Examples of sacrilegious
The solution, too good to spoil here, involves a sacrilegious yet principled breach of a basic rule—and a tweak to a pitcher’s very identity.
—
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2025
Drinking a Bloody Mary at night just feels wrong and confusing, sacrilegious even, which is hilarious because everything else goes.
—Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 7 Feb. 2025
Loading your audio article SAN FRANCISCO — NBA commissioner Adam Silver understandably defended mounting criticism of the 3-point shot, and saying anything else would have been sacrilegious in the house Steph Curry built with his unparalleled 3-point prowess.
—Cam Inman, The Mercury News, 15 Feb. 2025
Some fans will think supporting two different teams, let alone rivals, is sacrilegious.
—Charlotte Harpur, The Athletic, 19 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sacrilegious
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2025
Drinking a Bloody Mary at night just feels wrong and confusing, sacrilegious even, which is hilarious because everything else goes.
—Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 7 Feb. 2025
Loading your audio article SAN FRANCISCO — NBA commissioner Adam Silver understandably defended mounting criticism of the 3-point shot, and saying anything else would have been sacrilegious in the house Steph Curry built with his unparalleled 3-point prowess.
—Cam Inman, The Mercury News, 15 Feb. 2025
Some fans will think supporting two different teams, let alone rivals, is sacrilegious.
—Charlotte Harpur, The Athletic, 19 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sacrilegious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sacrilegious
Adjective
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For me, being a man controlled by God, things that are blasphemous always alert me.—
Angel Diaz,
Billboard,
2 May 2025
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Many Muslims found some of the depictions offensive and even blasphemous.—
Lola Fadulu,
New York Times,
21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
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
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This game must have seemed profane to the Greeks, or even impious.—
Simone Weil,
Harper's Magazine,
2 July 2024
Adjective
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If Jimmy and his gang are any indication, the next film will eschew cancer drama for something more irreverent and even weirder than the turns 28 Years Later takes.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
20 June 2025
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And those are not without their pleasures and irreverent homages to film tropes in various genres.—
Lindsey Bahr,
Boston Herald,
19 June 2025
Adjective
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But today’s escalating tensions go back to 1953, when British oil companies and the CIA orchestrated a coup and installed the Shah of Iran, a secular ruler willing to accommodate Big Oil and other corporate interests in the West.—
Robert Polner,
New York Daily News,
23 June 2025
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While many are motivated by religious believes, other secular walkers do it as a ‘mindful’ journey, a physical achievement or as a practical way to explore European culture, historical sites and history itself.—
Cecilia Rodriguez,
Forbes.com,
22 June 2025
Adjective
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This attempt to turn back the clock included the purging of Christian texts from schools, the conversion of Christian churches into pagan temples, and religious persecution as it had been practiced in centuries past.—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
22 Feb. 2025
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As de Kort tells Live Science, these treasures were buried in several deposits that might have constituted offerings to a pagan god—possibly Wodan, the Germanic persona of the Norse god Odin.—
Sonja Anderson,
Smithsonian Magazine,
12 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sacrilegious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sacrilegious. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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