unholy
Americanadjective
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not holy; not sacred or hallowed.
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impious; sinful; wicked.
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Informal. dreadful; ungodly.
They got us out of bed at the unholy hour of three in the morning.
adjective
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not holy or sacred
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immoral or depraved
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informal outrageous or unnatural
an unholy alliance
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unholy
before 1000; Middle English; Old English unhālig (cognate with Dutch onheilig, Old Norse ūheilagr ). See un- 1, holy
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.
The leader of the Nepali Congress, Gagan Thapa, believes younger voters are tired of "unholy alliances" and "poor governance" in previous coalitions, and that the party is listening to Gen Z voters.
From BBC • Mar. 5, 2026
A God’s-eye view captures sparks and flames tearing a circle around his unholy play.
From Salon • Jan. 23, 2026
As they fell to a dour defeat in Braga, they completed the unholy trinity of scoring an own goal, missing a penalty and receiving a red card.
From BBC • Jan. 22, 2026
An unholy specimen, a building creature that is sufficiently weird, necessary, and profitable to wriggle to life in the city’s stifling landscape of land-use regulations: the double duplex.
From Slate • Jul. 31, 2025
It had been almost a year since the welfare man had scared us into cleaning the house, and it was once again an unholy mess.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
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.
