defile
1 Americannoun
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defiles
plural
verb (used without object)
verb
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to make foul or dirty; pollute
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to tarnish or sully the brightness of; taint; corrupt
-
to damage or sully (someone's good name, reputation, etc)
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to make unfit for ceremonial use; desecrate
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to violate the chastity of
noun
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a narrow pass or gorge, esp one between two mountains
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a single file of soldiers, etc
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of defile1
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English defilen, defelen, alteration of defoilen (by association with filen “to defile” ( see file 3), from Anglo-French, Old French defouler “to trample on, violate”; compare Old English befȳlan “to befoul”
Origin of defile2
1675–85; < French défilé, noun use of past participle of défiler to file off; see defilade
Explanation
When you defile something, you make it dirty or make it lose its purity. Think of a snowy field in which someone has tossed their old cans and wrappers. The litter defiles the winter wonderland. For something to be defiled, it first must be pure. You can't defile a garbage dump or a messy room. Defile is often used in a religious context. If you were to burn a copy of the Bible or spray-paint the walls of a church, it could be said that you defiled the holy book or place.
Vocabulary lists containing defile
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
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Grade 9, List 3
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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:
A soldier who requested anonymity explained to AFP that since then the body had been guarded around the clock "so that rival groups do not defile him."
From Barron's ● Mar. 3, 2026
Some Parisians backed the move, but others - including heritage campaigners - said it was a bad idea and would "defile" the French capital's iconic monument.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2024
“We can’t just take, defile and desecrate someone’s body without consent,” Numa says.
From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2024
“To defile the public debate with disinformation, lies, hatred and conspiracy theories is undemocratic conduct,” Luís Roberto Barroso, a Supreme Court justice and the head of Brazil’s electoral tribunal said in a recent speech.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 10, 2021
It’s amazing how quickly he can defile a space.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
As mixed as I am on the film itself, I appreciate that the Academy is embracing not just a horror movie, but a gleeful Grand Guignol that defiles the Walk of Fame twice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 24, 2025
"It is time to realize that fundamentalism defiles and corrupts every creed," he said.
From Reuters ● Sep. 14, 2022
In the name of personalization, she says, “it defiles, ignores, overrides and displaces everything about you and me that is personal.”
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 11, 2019
There is a fine line between reflecting the concerns of voters and performing a crude and offensive imitation that mocks and defiles their deepest beliefs.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 14, 2015
The boys chose their way through defiles and over heaps of sharp stone.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
The writer Octavio Paz, the Mexican Nobel laureate, denounced Malinche as a kind of malevolent Eve whose submission to Cortés forever defiled Mexico’s mixed identity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2026
In his resignation letter, he said the CCC had been "defiled", accusing the ruling Zanu-PF party of being behind the move - allegations it denied.
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2024
The Seleucids captured the holy Temple of Jerusalem and defiled it by erecting an altar to the Greek god Zeus inside.
From National Geographic ● Dec. 7, 2023
During Roof's trial the prosecution made sure to remind the jury that he had defiled a famous church.
From Salon ● Jul. 16, 2023
Thus according to the common Greek idea he would himself become defiled and have a part in Hercules’ guilt.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
The country's blasphemy law prohibits disturbing a religious assembly, trespassing on burial grounds, insulting religious beliefs or intentionally destroying or defiling a place or an object of worship.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2022
"This is a defiling a classic," said another.
From Reuters ● Feb. 13, 2022
Others see the mining as defiling the land on the reserve by polluting the waters, stripping bare the land, as well as upending centuries-old cultural traditions.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2022
"Without being able to arrest people, when we just fine them, they are probably making more money of the production of the things that are defiling the environment," the actor said in his welcome speech.
From Fox News ● Jun. 1, 2021
We are all our beautiful bodies and so must never be prostrate before barbarians, must never submit our original self, our one of one, to defiling and plunder.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
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.
