defiled

[dih-fahyld]

adjective

1. made foul, dirty, or unclean; polluted or tainted.

   Morally, those with defiled consciences are flying blind.

2. made impure for ceremonial or ritual use; desecrated.

   To the left is a defiled shrine, with statues toppled and the symbol of an unrecognizable god destroyed.

3. sullied, as a person’s reputation.

   The lawyer added to his defiled reputation the other day by getting into a fistfight with a congressman.

4. Archaic.,  deprived of one’s virginity or having one’s chastity violated.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of defile.

Other Word Forms

• undefiled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of defiled¹

defile ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

You’d never know the terrible mayhem that was visited on the seat of our national government, or the way our country and democracy were defiled that pitch-black day.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Nearly 20 years later, vandals dug up and defiled corpses.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In his resignation letter, he said the CCC had been "defiled", accusing the ruling Zanu-PF party of being behind the move - allegations it denied.

Read more on BBC

And soldiers and volunteer medics recalled finding more than 30 defiled bodies of women and girls.

Read more on New York Times

The Seleucids captured the holy Temple of Jerusalem and defiled it by erecting an altar to the Greek god Zeus inside.

Read more on National Geographic