defilement
Americannoun
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the act of making something foul, dirty, or unclean.
Humankind's destruction and defilement of the natural environment is seriously endangering the continuation of life on this planet.
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the violation of something considered sacred, or the act of making something ceremonially impure; desecration.
I want to express our profound disgust and contempt for the recent defilement of the mosque by graffiti.
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the act of violating a person’s chastity.
The Lagos state government has approved the use of a toll-free emergency line to report cases of rape, defilement, child abuse, and other sexual assaults.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of defilement
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.
“To allow Plaintiffs to exploit that series of circumstances to their benefit by obtaining those photographs now adds a second defilement to the first,” the company concluded in the filing, the Mail Online reported.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2024
It holds, appropriately, kid-size glass sculptures that evoke fairy-tale innocence and real-world defilement.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 11, 2021
Hazzauna's shame was her deepest secret and yet she felt the defilement left her oddly transparent.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 14, 2012
Hazzauna’s shame was her deepest secret and yet she felt the defilement left her oddly transparent.
From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2012
It was simple and, since both Helmholtz and the Savage were dreadfully pained by the shattering and defilement of a favourite poetic crystal, extremely effective.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
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.
