impiety

American  

[im-pahy-i-tee] / ɪmˈpaɪ ɪ ti /

noun

impieties plural

1. lack of piety; lack of reverence for God or sacred things; irreverence.

2. lack of dutifulness or respect.

3. an impious act, practice, etc.

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impiety British  

/ ɪmˈpaɪɪtɪ /

noun

1. lack of reverence or proper respect for a god

2. any lack of proper respect

3. an impious act

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• impieties
  plural

Etymology

Origin of impiety

1300–50; Middle English impietie < Latin impietās, equivalent to impi ( us ) impious + -etās, variant, after vowels, of -itās -ity

Explanation

Impiety is a disrespect for the sacred. For example, visitors are advised not to wear shorts or tank tops when touring certain churches and cathedrals in Europe, because doing so is viewed as impiety by those who worship there. English offers many options to describe disrespect. Impudence, insolence, sass, and irreverence are a few choices. Impiety sets itself apart from these in that it describes a lack of respect for a deity, like a god or God, or for worship itself. Piety is devotion or reverence, so impiety is a lack of devotion or reverence — such as making fun of other people's religious beliefs.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

impiety impieties

Mr. Stuttard, an accomplished theater director, departs from this scholarship by staging these events as a Greek tragedy, where the hero—in this case, Pericles’ Athens itself—is brought low by divine forces offended by impiety.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026

The impiety of Thales had a more enduring impact, his reputation soaring over the ages.

From New York Times ● Apr. 6, 2024

Just as the campaign began in 415 BCE, Alcibiades’s political enemies in Athens accused him of impiety and treason, and he fled to Sparta to avoid a trial.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

She was known for making provocative statements in class, such as dismissing as a political stunt Socrates’ famous apology at his trial for impiety and corruption.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 29, 2021

At this shocking impiety, the tumult died away.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

Science is rigorous, evidence-based with double-checked conclusions, uncontaminated by moral suspicion of impieties.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 11, 2022

This “cool, cerebral book about a cool, cerebral talent,” Garner writes, “unpeels the way that Kubrick’s movies, packed as they are with impieties, challenge, infuriate and entertain.”

From New York Times ● Aug. 20, 2020

She is a poet of steel shavings, of semidetached feeling, of unexpected links and impieties and unpropitious implications.

From New York Times ● Apr. 10, 2020

Whenever panic about my hidden impieties set in, which was rather often, I told myself: It’s just a small community in a big Manhattan.

From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2017

Would she had done so—not for his sake or yet for hers—but now, even now, while the impieties were hot on his burning lips!

From The Shadow of a Crime A Cumbrian Romance by Caine, Hall, Sir