sacrilegious
[sak-ruh-lij-uh s, -lee-juh s]
Show More
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. 2018
Examples from the Web for sacrilegiously
Historical Examples
He fled with a woman to whom he had been sacrilegiously married.
To represent the likenesses of the Prophets is to belittle them inevitably and sacrilegiously.
The Life of MohammadEtienne Dinet
But he regarded me in a shocked manner at the very idea of so sacrilegiously altering the text!
Memoirs of an American Prima DonnaClara Louise Kellogg
Shagarach started to raise her, but the terrible detonation of a pistol rung out, sacrilegiously invading their quietude.
The IncendiaryW. A. (William Augustine) Leahy
I remember that the Stonehenge plate greatly impressed me and that I sacrilegiously cut it out of the book so as to have it!
Afoot in EnglandW.H. Hudson
sacrilegious
- of, relating to, or involving sacrilege; impious
- guilty of sacrilege
Show More
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 sacrilegiously
sacrilegious
adj.
mid-15c., from Latin sacrilegiosum, from sacrilegium (see sacrilege). As a noun, "one who commits a sacrilege," early 14c. Related: Sacrilegiously; sacrilegiousness.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper