defiled

American  

[dih-fahyld] / dɪˈfaɪld /

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.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of defile.

Other Word Forms

• undefiled adjective

Etymology

Origin of defiled

defile ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

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

They seemed to realize the impossibility of touching tar without being defiled.

From "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" by Frederick Douglass