desecrate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
desecrates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
desecrated,
past participle, past
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desecrating
present participle
verb
-
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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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desecratesimple
-
desecratessimple
-
have desecratedperfect
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has desecratedperfect
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am desecratingprogressive
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are desecratingprogressive
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is desecratingprogressive
-
have been desecratingperfect progressive
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has been desecratingperfect progressive
Past
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desecratedsimple
-
had desecratedperfect
-
was desecratingprogressive
-
were desecratingprogressive
-
had been desecratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of desecrate
First recorded in 1665–75; de- + -secrate, modeled on consecrate
Explanation
To desecrate means to treat a sacred place or thing with violent disrespect. The news sometimes reports on vandals who have desecrated tombstones or places of worship. The word consecrate from the Latin consecrare means "to make sacred." Substituting the prefix con- with de- reverses the meaning. When preparing for a foreign occupation, the military instructs troops not to desecrate sacred sites and risk offending the local population. You can also desecrate someone's memory if you spread malicious lies about him after his death.
Vocabulary lists containing desecrate
Their Eyes Were Watching God
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The Book Thief
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Bless Me, Ultima
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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.
See Examples For:
“Excessively entertainment-oriented portrayals desecrate the nation’s suffering and disrespect the people who made sacrifices,” read a recent commentary published in the state-run Economic Daily newspaper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2025
Roberts, 52, can’t see how such a massive development wouldn’t desecrate what is to his people a sacred and historically rich locale.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2024
“We can’t just take, defile and desecrate someone’s body without consent,” Numa says.
From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2024
Tourists are not the first to desecrate the lake in the eyes of locals.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 18, 2024
They joined ecstatic cults and allowed sick refugees to desecrate the great temples, where they died untended.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
First a priest vanishes, then someone desecrates the churches with goat’s blood and finally a creepy itinerant preacher arrives — which is when things take a really bad turn in a small town.
From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2020
Electronic advertising desecrates the bridges, but boringly so, and outside the window of Owen’s Roosevelt Island apartment, a neon ad for Oral-B alternates with one for Jolly Rancher.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 21, 2018
Mr. Khan had filed a brief in the case with a stark personal appeal to the court, saying Mr. Trump’s policy desecrates the memory of his son, U.S.
From Washington Times ● May 17, 2018
"Gehry's design for the memorial dishonors, mocks and desecrates Eisenhower," wrote the group's president, Justin Shubow, saying the design is "topsy-turvy in its proportions."
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2012
"See Saw" shall upset your estimates, "Dream Faces" shall your heavy heads bemuse, Because your hand, unheeding, desecrates Our temple; fit for higher, worthier use.
From The Works of Rudyard Kipling One Volume Edition by Rudyard Kipling
In 2013, attackers desecrated a Protestant cemetery in Jerusalem.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
But tech titan Elon Musk has taken to X on multiple occasions to criticize the film, which in his opinion "desecrated" the story.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Westminster Mall, a once-popular shopping center that has been desecrated by graffiti and vandalism since it closed last year, is on track for demolition soon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2026
In a London auditorium, a work of art is being desecrated.
From New York Times ● Mar. 26, 2024
It is comforting to discover that I am not, after all, the only Judas to have been interned behind these desecrated hotel walls.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
A US Supreme Court decision has ruled that burning the US national flag is protected under the First Amendment, invalidating state laws against desecrating the Stars and Stripes.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
If they were concerned at all about us desecrating the image of Shrek, we certainly did not feel that way.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
Castillo, 43, was sentenced to nine years for contempt, assault, public disorder and desecrating national symbols.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
That finding strengthened the case against the cemetery workers, who were ultimately convicted in 2015 of desecrating human remains.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 6, 2026
And Doroteo said, “I feel like I’d be desecrating the flag.”
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
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.
