impious
Americanadjective
-
not pious or religious; lacking reverence for God, religious practices, etc.; irreligious; ungodly.
- Synonyms:
- irreverent, blasphemous, sacrilegious
adjective
-
lacking piety or reverence for a god; ungodly
-
lacking respect; undutiful
Other Word Forms
- impiously adverb
- impiousness noun
Etymology
Origin of impious
Explanation
To be impious is to be disrespectful of god or duty. When someone is being impious they are doing things that their church, synagogue, temple, mosque, school principal, government or parents would find unacceptable. When you don’t show reverence for religion or god, you are impious. The adjective impious is related to the word piety, which means religious reverence. To be impious is to be without piety. Being impious is similar to being blasphemous, but it’s a little more passive to be impious, while blasphemy is more actively insulting. Also, when you act out against tradition or dutifulness, you could be considered impious. If you dodge a military draft, you will likely be considered impious.
Vocabulary lists containing impious
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
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"Common Sense," Vocabulary from the pamphlet
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Common Sense
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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.
Having conferred upon Franco’s touchdown its name for 11 o’clock news viewers to embrace, I accept neither credit nor, should you hold the moniker to be impious, blame.”
From Washington Post • Dec. 23, 2022
Once it felt impious just to say the word Auschwitz.
From The Guardian • Jan. 23, 2020
But—for this impious reader, at least—it’s also a temptation worth resisting.
From Slate • Mar. 17, 2016
And his portrayal of historical figures throughout the American Chronicles shows a similar struggle between impious mischief and trembling reverence.
From The New Yorker • Oct. 26, 2015
“Rather impious of mortal man to do the gods two better, but there you are. The stone roads of Valyria were one of Longstrider’s nine. The fifth, I believe.”
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
