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.

---

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

Close friend Jo Peraldi finds it hard to believe that a day of high emotion surrounding the funeral of Orsoni's mother could have been defiled in such a way.

From BBC • Jan. 17, 2026

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

Here was a natural wonder on par with the Grand Canyon, defiled by capitalism.

From Salon • Mar. 22, 2020

Besides, I've defiled enough future historical sites for now.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir