sacrilegious
[ sak-ruh-lij-uh s, -lee-juh s ]
/ ˌsæk rəˈlɪdʒ əs, -ˈli dʒəs /
adjective
RELATED CONTENT
RELATED WORDS
blasphemous, sinful, obscene, indecent, atheistic, dirty, filthy, foul, godless, heathen, impious, infidel, irreligious, irreverent, pagan, ungodly, unhallowed, unholy
Nearby words
- sacrifice paddock,
- sacrificial,
- sacrificial anode,
- sacrificially,
- sacrilege,
- sacring,
- sacring bell,
- sacristan,
- sacristy,
- sacro-
Origin of sacrilegious
Pronunciation note
The almost universal pronunciation of sacrilegious as [sak-ruh-lij-uh s] /ˌsæk rəˈlɪdʒ əs/ 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 [sak-ruh-lee-juh s] /ˌsæk rəˈli dʒəs/ occurs in American English, though not in British English, and criticism of the newer pronunciation has almost disappeared.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for sacrilegious
sacrilegious
/ (ˌsækrɪˈlɪdʒəs) /
adjective
of, relating to, or involving sacrilege; impious
guilty of sacrilege
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
sacrilegious
mid-15c., from Latin sacrilegiosum, from sacrilegium (see sacrilege). As a noun, "one who commits a sacrilege," early 14c. Related: Sacrilegiously; sacrilegiousness.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper