adjective
-
of, relating to, or involving sacrilege; impious
-
guilty of sacrilege
Pronunciation
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
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of sacrilegious
1400–50; late Middle English sacrilegiose; see sacrilege, -ous
Explanation
Sacrilegious means extremely disrespectful towards something considered sacred. An action that causes deep offense to a believer — like burning a religious text, for example — is sacrilegious. The Latin sacrilegus, "thief of sacred things," was used to describe robbers who plundered graves and temples. Anything that's sacrilegious is essentially as disrespectful as a graverobber towards things that others find holy or solemn and serious. In modern ironic usage, a sacrilegious opinion runs contrary to popular wisdom or deeply held beliefs. Calling the movie Citizen Kane boring and self-indulgent is totally sacrilegious to many movie lovers.
Vocabulary lists containing sacrilegious
The Tragedy of Macbeth
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 1
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The Catcher in the Rye
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sacrilegious smart-alecks were not long in coining his nickname.
From Time Magazine Archive
Sacrilegious feet tramp the solitudes, and sandwich papers become common objects of the sea-shore.
From Without Prejudice by Zangwill, Israel
Sacrilegious theft— of first order, 6. of second order, 8.
From The Oldest Code of Laws in the World The code of laws promulgated by Hammurabi, King of Babylon B.C. 2285-2242 by Johns, C. H. W. (Claude Hermann Walter)
All Mahomet's uncles took part in the Sacrilegious War that followed, and stirring times continued for Mahomet until a truce was made after four years.
From Mahomet Founder of Islam by Draycott, Gladys M.
After the Sacrilegious War, a period of prosperity began for the city of Mecca.
From Mahomet Founder of Islam by Draycott, Gladys M.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
