sacrilegious

[sak-ruh-lij-uhs, -lee-juhs]

adjective

1. pertaining to or involving sacrilege.

   sacrilegious practices.

2. guilty of sacrilege.

   a sacrilegious person.

sacrilegious

/ ˌsækrɪˈlɪdʒəs /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or involving sacrilege; impious

2. guilty of sacrilege

Pronunciation Note

The almost universal pronunciation of sacrilegious as is the result of folk etymology—modifying the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word so that it conforms to a more familiar one—in this case religious. Etymologically, sacrilegious has no direct relationship to religious. The historical pronunciation occurs in American English, though not in British English, and criticism of the newer pronunciation has almost disappeared.

Other Word Forms

• sacrilegiously adverb
• sacrilegiousness noun
• nonsacrilegious adjective
• nonsacrilegiously adverb
• nonsacrilegiousness noun
• pseudosacrilegious adjective
• pseudosacrilegiously adverb
• unsacrilegious adjective
• unsacrilegiously adverb
• unsacrilegiousness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sacrilegious¹

1400–50; late Middle English sacrilegiose; sacrilege, -ous

Example Sentences

Yet there’s something almost sacrilegious about the song.

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If we are not serious people, Trump is unserious to a sacrilegious degree.

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Arnold Schoenberg’s sacrilegious “Pierrot Lunaire” foretold a distortion of reality that has never left us.

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Cancer Christ mixes Christian, satanic and other “reptilian” imagery in an intentionally and outlandishly sacrilegious mix, with members at times wearing snake masks atop religious garments.

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“Ironic” is Jackson’s unapologetic description for a song that lures an audience into a religious fervor for a sacrilegious sentiment.

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Related Words

• blasphemous 
• indecent 
• obscene 
• sinful