blaspheme
Americanverb (used with object)
-
blasphemes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
blasphemed,
past participle, past
-
blaspheming
present participle
-
to speak impiously or irreverently of (God or sacred things).
-
to speak evil of; slander; abuse.
verb (used without object)
-
blasphemes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
blasphemed,
past participle, past
-
blaspheming
present participle
verb
-
(tr) to show contempt or disrespect for (God, a divine being, or sacred things), esp in speech
-
(intr) to utter profanities, curses, or impious expressions
Synonym Usage
See curse.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
blasphemesimple
-
blasphemessimple
-
have blasphemedperfect
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has blasphemedperfect
-
am blasphemingprogressive
-
are blasphemingprogressive
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is blasphemingprogressive
-
have been blasphemingperfect progressive
-
has been blasphemingperfect progressive
Past
-
blasphemedsimple
-
had blasphemedperfect
-
was blasphemingprogressive
-
were blasphemingprogressive
-
had been blasphemingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of blaspheme
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Late Latin blasphēmāre, from Greek blasphēmeîn “to speak profanely,” derivative of blásphēmos blasphemous
Explanation
To blaspheme is to say something offensive, specifically offensive to a religion. There are several types of blaspheming, but they usually involve saying things that are considered offensive to a religion or to a deity. If you say "Jesus Christ!" or "Good God!" when you stub your toe, some would consider that blaspheming.
Vocabulary lists containing blaspheme
Things Fall Apart
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The Secret Life of Bees
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Elijah of Buxton
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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.
See Examples For:
“I don’t really understand how you can blaspheme about something that happened, even in 1625,” he said, offering up excerpts from Brown’s book.
From New York Times ● Jul. 10, 2021
President Emmanuel Macron spoke out in support of the teenager, arguing that in France "we have the right to blaspheme".
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2021
I’m about to blaspheme here, so hold onto your knickers, Dodger fans, but Vin Scully used to have me snoring by the fourth inning, his drone being the perfect cure for insomnia.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2021
Mila has appeared on French television to say she did not regret the video and to defend the right to blaspheme.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 12, 2020
Nine tenths of the men who talk in this way do but blaspheme Love by taking his name in vain.”
From A Rose of a Hundred Leaves A Love Story by Barr, Amelia Edith Huddleston
The consistent mind mocks and distorts life itself, blasphemes and perverts everything in a uni verse that insists on motion.
From Time Magazine Archive
But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven.
From The Gospel of Luke for Readers by Anonymous
If she swears, they call her a perjurer; if she weeps, they say that she is acting; and that she blasphemes when she calls on God.
From The Social Cancer by Derbyshire, Charles E.
Lost lilies, bruised and sodden; Lost faces, gleaming there, Where misery blasphemes the sacred young!
From The Singing Man A Book of Songs and Shadows by Peabody, Josephine Preston
I make a distinction," Herman put in good naturedly, "between swearing and blasphemy; and Tom never blasphemes.
From The Pagans by Bates, Arlo
Juan de Salas stood before the inquisitor Moriz in Vallalodid on June 21, 1527, and once again denied he had blasphemed the evangelists.
From Salon ● Dec. 5, 2015
"I've had a lot more fun watching and arguing about the Twilight movies than I ever had with the Star Wars saga, that lumbering, narratively hobbled space opera," he blasphemed recently.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 15, 2012
"Texas" blasphemed, tried the door, finally fired through it.
From Time Magazine Archive
Thus shall ye say to your master, 'Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
From The Bible Story by Hall, Newton Marshall
And this my glory wilt thou in due time manifest and bring to light; that by thy glorifying of me, the world may see who it is whom they have blasphemed and persecuted.”
From True Christianity by Arndt, Johann
The wonderfully blaspheming Ella, who is wise to everyone’s deceits, steals many of the scenes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
As he saw it, what his son was doing, like what the sunbathers and the bikers were doing, was not blaspheming the memorial: There can be no forgetting, he said.
From New York Times ● May 28, 2014
“Bill, you’re blaspheming me,” Mr. Icahn complained, according to Mr. Ackman.
From New York Times ● Nov. 26, 2011
The maximum penalty for blaspheming, destroying hops, burning a haystack, or "maliciously damaging a river bank" is still life imprisonment.
From Time Magazine Archive
I wasn’t blaspheming, I was asking for information.
From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway
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.
