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

And I witnessed wave after wave of students taking skyward photos of their feet pressed against the Washington Monument, the venerable memorial defiled by dirty shoes and reduced to an Instagram prop.

From Washington Post • Jun. 17, 2022

The eagerly awaited food promised for Parcel Day arrives spoiled and defiled by rodents.

From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins