sacrilege

[ sak-ruh-lij ]
See synonyms for sacrilege on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the violation or profanation of anything sacred or held sacred.

  2. an instance of this.

  1. the stealing of anything consecrated to the service of God.

Origin of sacrilege

1
1275–1325; Middle English <Old French <Latin sacrilegium, equivalent to sacri- (combining form of sacrum holy place) + leg(ere) to steal, literally, gather + -ium-ium

Words Nearby sacrilege

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sacrilege in a sentence

  • In the course of time, absolution for the sacrilege was obtained from the Pope; but my father could never obtain it from himself.

  • But the gateways have been standing for ages and it would be sacrilege to think of tearing them down to facilitate traffic.

  • Somehow the thought of opening his heart to this matter-of-fact lawyer seemed like sacrilege.

    The Everlasting Arms | Joseph Hocking
  • I felt it was a sacrilege to lift my eyes to this young weeping mother, so beautiful in her tears.

  • Soon afterwards Mathurin Lejeusne, the instigator of the sacrilege, was shot for some breach of military duty.

    Belgium | George W. T. (George William Thomson) Omond

British Dictionary definitions for sacrilege

sacrilege

/ (ˈsækrɪlɪdʒ) /


noun
  1. the misuse or desecration of anything regarded as sacred or as worthy of extreme respect: to play Mozart's music on a kazoo is sacrilege

  2. the act or an instance of taking anything sacred for secular use

Origin of sacrilege

1
C13: from Old French sacrilège, from Latin sacrilegium, from sacrilegus temple-robber, from sacra sacred things + legere to take

Derived forms of sacrilege

  • sacrilegist (ˌsækrɪˈliːdʒɪst), noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012