adjective
-
of, relating to, or involving sacrilege; impious
-
guilty of sacrilege
Pronunciation
The almost universal pronunciation of sacrilegious as is the result of folk etymology—modifying the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word so that it conforms to a more familiar one—in this case religious. Etymologically, sacrilegious has no direct relationship to religious. The historical pronunciation occurs in American English, though not in British English, and criticism of the newer pronunciation has almost disappeared.
Other Word Forms
- nonsacrilegious adjective
- nonsacrilegiously adverb
- nonsacrilegiousness noun
- pseudosacrilegious adjective
- pseudosacrilegiously adverb
- sacrilegiously adverb
- sacrilegiousness noun
- unsacrilegious adjective
- unsacrilegiously adverb
- unsacrilegiousness noun
Etymology
Origin of sacrilegious
Explanation
Sacrilegious means extremely disrespectful towards something considered sacred. An action that causes deep offense to a believer — like burning a religious text, for example — is sacrilegious. The Latin sacrilegus, "thief of sacred things," was used to describe robbers who plundered graves and temples. Anything that's sacrilegious is essentially as disrespectful as a graverobber towards things that others find holy or solemn and serious. In modern ironic usage, a sacrilegious opinion runs contrary to popular wisdom or deeply held beliefs. Calling the movie Citizen Kane boring and self-indulgent is totally sacrilegious to many movie lovers.
Vocabulary lists containing sacrilegious
The Tragedy of Macbeth
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 1
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The Catcher in the Rye
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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.
"That seems sacrilegious to me. I certainly don't aim at awards when I'm making the music, I'd be doing it either way," he says.
From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026
Alfie, who’s either being willfully obtuse or radically uncompromising, sees nothing sacrilegious in Wilde’s one-act tragedy.
From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2025
Muslims consider images of the prophet to be sacrilegious and encouraging of idolatry.
From Washington Times • Dec. 8, 2023
This year, Petras became the first openly trans artists to win in a major category at the Grammy Awards for her playfully sacrilegious collaboration with Sam Smith, “Unholy,” in the best pop duo/group performance category.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 27, 2023
“Adding salt to my veal medallions is sacrilegious, ’’saidDaniel. scissors.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
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.
