sacrilegious

[sak-ruh-lij-uh s, -lee-juh s]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sacrilegious ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

pertaining to or involving sacrilege: sacrilegious practices.

guilty of sacrilege: a sacrilegious person.

Origin of sacrilegious

1400–50; late Middle English sacrilegiose; see sacrilege, -ous

Related formssac·ri·le·gious·ly, adverbsac·ri·le·gious·ness, nounnon·sac·ri·le·gious, adjectivenon·sac·ri·le·gious·ly, adverbnon·sac·ri·le·gious·ness, nounpseu·do·sac·ri·le·gious, adjectivepseu·do·sac·ri·le·gious·ly, adverbun·sac·ri·le·gious, adjectiveun·sac·ri·le·gious·ly, adverbun·sac·ri·le·gious·ness, noun

Can be confusedirreligious sacrilegious unreligiousreligious sacrilegious sacrosanct

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

Related Words for sacrilegious

blasphemous, sinful, obscene, indecent, atheistic, dirty, filthy, foul, godless, heathen, impious, infidel, irreligious, irreverent, pagan, ungodly, unhallowed, unholy

Examples from the Web for sacrilegious

Contemporary Examples of sacrilegious

Prosecutors said the group had "insulted in a sacrilegious manner the centuries-old foundations of the Russian Orthodox Church".
Russia: All Eyes on Vladimir Putin as Pussy Riot Trial Begins
The Telegraph
July 31, 2012
True confession: I hated Madame Bovary, sacrilegious as that sounds.
Madoff's Sex/Money Paradox
Tracy Quan
August 25, 2009
Talking about good and evil is fine, but conflating the American government with good is sacrilegious.
Bush's Last Stand
Peter Beinart
January 16, 2009

Historical Examples of sacrilegious

I am through with the sacrilegious beast as soon as he is dead.
Chit-Chat; Nirvana; The Searchlight
Mathew Joseph Holt
For it is impossible, as well as sacrilegious, to be as quick as Baedeker.
Where Angels Fear to Tread
E. M. Forster
Such a thing would have been horrible, revolting, sacrilegious.
The Life of Cesare Borgia
Raphael Sabatini
Their eyes, dilating with horror, followed his sacrilegious hand.
Dreamers of the Ghetto
I. Zangwill
What miscreant hero had dared perform this sacrilegious exploit?
Tom, Dick and Harry
Talbot Baines Reed

British Dictionary definitions for sacrilegious

sacrilegious

adjective

of, relating to, or involving sacrilege; impious

guilty of sacrilege

Derived Formssacrilegiously, adverbsacrilegiousness, 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

Word Origin and History for sacrilegious

adj.

mid-15c., from Latin sacrilegiosum, from sacrilegium (see sacrilege). As a noun, "one who commits a sacrilege," early 14c. Related: Sacrilegiously; sacrilegiousness.