impiety

American  

[im-pahy-i-tee] / ɪmˈpaɪ ɪ ti /

noun

plural

impieties

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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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

Obscenity and Impiety have always been repressed in my company.'

From Boswell's Life of Johnson Abridged and edited, with an introduction by Charles Grosvenor Osgood by Osgood, Charles Grosvenor

I sing Impiety beyond a name: Who stiles it any thinge, knowes not the same.

From The Complete Works of Richard Crashaw, Volume I (of 2) by Crashaw, Richard

But I will conclude all their Impiety and Barbarisme with one Example, viz.

From A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies Or, a faithful NARRATIVE OF THE Horrid and Unexampled Massacres, Butcheries, and all manner of Cruelties, that Hell and Malice could invent, committed by the Popish Spanish Party on the inhabitants of West-India, TOGETHER With the Devastations of several Kingdoms in America by Fire and Sword, for the space of Forty and Two Years, from the time of its first Discovery by them. by Casas, Bartolomé de las

Impiety?" he burst out upon the unlucky magistrates; "penalty of death! senate! what senate?

From Roman life in the days of Cicero by Church, Alfred John

Impiety á la mode, miserable vanities, will supplant a noble pride to achieve a reputation in letters: it will become necessary to raise a doubt, wherever truth has been admitted.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 379, May, 1847 by Various