defiled

[ dih-fahyld ]

adjective

1. made foul, dirty, or unclean; polluted or tainted:

   Morally, those with defiled consciences are flying blind.

2. made impure for ceremonial or ritual use; desecrated:

   To the left is a defiled shrine, with statues toppled and the symbol of an unrecognizable god destroyed.

3. sullied, as a person’s reputation:

   The lawyer added to his defiled reputation the other day by getting into a fistfight with a congressman.

4. Archaic. deprived of one’s virginity or having one’s chastity violated.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of defile ¹( def ).

Other Words From

• un·de·filed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of defiled¹

defile ¹( def ) + -ed ²( def )

Example Sentences

They also revived the old custom of killing women who were seen to have defiled their family “honor.”

From The Daily Beast

Evidence was destroyed, perjury suborned, and justice defiled.

From The Daily Beast

I cannot help but think of the political and ideological interests that have defiled the city.

From The Daily Beast

And it's just so easy, I thought as I pulled my shirt on and, once again, said thank you to the young man I'd just defiled.

From The Daily Beast

And by the facility of her fornication she defiled the land, and played the harlot with stones and with stocks.

From Project Gutenberg

For the greatness of thy iniquity, thy nakedness is discovered, the soles of thy feet are defiled.

From Project Gutenberg

Thou art grown old in a strange country, thou art defiled with the dead: thou art counted with them that go down into hell.

From Project Gutenberg

And I poured out my indignation upon them for the blood which they had shed upon the land, and with their idols they defiled it.

From Project Gutenberg

I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: the fornications of Ephraim there: Israel is defiled.

From Project Gutenberg