desecrate
to divest of sacred or hallowed character or office.
to divert from a sacred to a profane use or purpose.
to treat with sacrilege; profane.
Origin of desecrate
1Other words for desecrate
Other words from desecrate
- des·e·crat·er, des·e·cra·tor, noun
- des·e·cra·tion [des-i-krey-shuhn] /dɛs ɪˈkreɪ ʃən/ noun
- un·des·e·crat·ed, adjective
Words Nearby desecrate
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use desecrate in a sentence
By testing them for drugs, police “desecrated” Ta’Naja’s ashes, Barnes said in the lawsuit filed against the city of Springfield and six Springfield police officers.
Police told a man a container in his car tested positive for drugs. It was his daughter’s ashes. | Andrea Salcedo | May 21, 2021 | Washington PostJohn Walker, when surrounded by people filming his deeds, makes a very different choice and—this cannot be emphasized enough—desecrates the symbolism of the shield by decapitating an innocent man with it.
All Your Falcon and the Winter Soldier Finale Questions, Answered | Eliana Dockterman | April 23, 2021 | TimeThey took selfies as they smashed windows and doors, desecrated sacred objects and paraded through the Capitol rotunda.
My Father Wrote 'Strange Fruit.' The Capitol Rioters Had a Lot in Common With the Lynch Mobs That Inspired That Song | Robert Meeropol | March 5, 2021 | TimeScientists suspect the mud wrap may have been used to restore the body’s shape after it was desecrated, potentially by tomb robbers.
Unusual mud shell covers an Egyptian mummy | Maria Temming | February 26, 2021 | Science News For StudentsLeg fractures and other damage to the mummy’s body hint that the mud wrap may have been used to restore the body after it was desecrated, potentially by tomb robbers.
An ancient Egyptian mummy was wrapped in an unusual mud shell | Maria Temming | February 3, 2021 | Science News
It was no human remains that he was commanded to desecrate; the bones referred to were those of Mother Earth.
Stories of Old Greece and Rome | Emilie Kip BakerDo not neglect it; do not misuse it; before all things do not defile and desecrate it.
Sermons | J. B. LightfootThey used to have to stop miles away, as no engine was allowed to desecrate the holy city of Pekin.
You desecrate our sacred memories when you allow small suspicions and fears to enter your thoughts of me.
Tante | Anne Douglas SedgwickProceeding straight up to the high altar, he bent his knee before the God whose name he was now so soon to desecrate.
The Swedish Revolution Under Gustavus Vasa | Paul Barron Watson
British Dictionary definitions for desecrate
/ (ˈdɛsɪˌkreɪt) /
to violate or outrage the sacred character of (an object or place) by destructive, blasphemous, or sacrilegious action
to remove the consecration from (a person, object, building, etc); deconsecrate
Origin of desecrate
1Derived forms of desecrate
- desecrator or desecrater, noun
- desecration, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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