profane
Americanadjective
-
characterized by irreverence or contempt for God or sacred principles or things; irreligious.
- Synonyms:
- ungodly, impious, sacrilegious, blasphemous
- Antonyms:
- sacred
-
not devoted to holy or religious purposes; unconsecrated; secular (opposed to sacred).
- Synonyms:
- temporal
- Antonyms:
- spiritual
-
unholy; heathen; pagan.
profane rites.
- Synonyms:
- unhallowed
- Antonyms:
- holy
-
not initiated into religious rites or mysteries, as persons.
-
common or vulgar.
verb (used with object)
adjective
-
having or indicating contempt, irreverence, or disrespect for a divinity or something sacred
-
not designed or used for religious purposes; secular
-
not initiated into the inner mysteries or sacred rites
-
vulgar, coarse, or blasphemous
profane language
verb
-
to treat or use (something sacred) with irreverence
-
to put to an unworthy or improper use
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
nonprofanenessnoun
-
profanationnoun
-
profanenessnoun
-
profanernoun
-
semiprofanenessnoun
-
unprofanenessnoun
-
half-profaneadjective
-
nonprofaneadjective
-
profanatoryadjective
-
semiprofaneadjective
-
unprofaneadjective
-
unprofanedadjective
-
nonprofanelyadverb
-
profanelyadverb
-
semiprofanelyadverb
-
unprofanelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
profanesimple
-
profanessimple
-
have profanedperfect
-
has profanedperfect
-
am profaningprogressive
-
are profaningprogressive
-
is profaningprogressive
-
have been profaningperfect progressive
-
has been profaningperfect progressive
Past
-
profanedsimple
-
had profanedperfect
-
was profaningprogressive
-
were profaningprogressive
-
had been profaningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of profane
1350–1400; (adj.) < Latin profānus literally, before (outside of ) the temple; replacing Middle English prophane < Medieval Latin prophānus desecrated ( see pro- 1, fane); (v.) < Latin profānāre, derivative of profānus; replacing Middle English prophanen < Medieval Latin prophānāre to desecrate
Explanation
Profane language is the kind that gets bleeped on TV. The word profane can also describe behavior that's deeply offensive because it shows a lack of respect, especially for someone's religious beliefs. The Latin root profanus means "unholy," and that's where it all started. If you take the Lord's name in vain, you've profaned Him and probably made your religious mom pretty angry too. Don't even try the profane curse words so vital to a truly great hip-hop track but perhaps not recommended for dinner with Grandma.
Vocabulary lists containing profane
Romeo and Juliet
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To Kill a Mockingbird
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Grade 11, List 3
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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.
See Examples For:
The author also notes a telling detail: Abolitionists such as Douglass often chose to speak on July 5, not the Fourth itself, regarding the official celebration as compromised, even profane.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
On a never-ending feed we watch the cute and profane, sleepwalking toward an emotional state beyond shock as entertainment: the banality of passive consumption.
From Slate ● May 12, 2026
Meanwhile, Morgan became a reliable scene stealer in acerbic British comedies, often playing bluntly profane characters with little regard for social niceties.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2025
The Church saw vinum clarum as a profane wine, and its consumption was not imbued with Christian symbolism, nor attached to any table ceremony.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2024
Dare to profane with his unworthiest hand that.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
It reads: “He that violates his oath profanes the divinity of faith itself.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2022
It profanes and pulverizes any claim she might have on representing the interests of mothers and children.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 1, 2018
It is just not true that all today's modern art despises or profanes the past.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 18, 2013
The climax comes when Charlie puts the house up for sale, profanes their devotions, and triumphantly vilifies mother.
From Time Magazine Archive
They both were forfeit, when I broke my Vow, Nor cou'd my Honour with thy Fame decline; Whoe'er profanes thee, injures nought of mine.
From The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III by Summers, Montague
This is both a twilight and a twilight zone; every virtue is a simulation of itself, a hollow or profaned image.
From The New Yorker ● May 21, 2019
All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind.”
From The Guardian ● Aug. 7, 2015
When the call comes from Chau that set this scene in motion, as Mike plays with Kaylee, we feel with him how his one last standing temple has been profaned.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2012
Yet the opera’s few tender moments, set to what seemed like profaned echoes of Wagner’s “Tristan,” had a warmth that was gripping.
From New York Times ● May 9, 2010
"The High Septon claims we profaned Baelor's Sept with blood,,after lying to him about our intent."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
And of course there were important rules about the worship of Yahweh, including loving him, fearing him, emulating him, and not profaning his name.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
“Some have even claimed that only by being here, by my presence, I am traumatizing the Kercher family again, and profaning Meredith’s memory. They are wrong.”
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 15, 2019
This task is made more difficult by the novelist’s mustache-twirling contempt for profaning fiction with reality.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 17, 2018
Finally Garfield reached the scene in which Rodrigues steps on the fumie, profaning the God he believes in and renouncing the faith he has come halfway across the world to preach.
From New York Times ● Nov. 21, 2016
As the attendant glided to his task, Serviss was mightily moved to rise in his seat and cry out against the foolish, profaning business.
From The Tyranny of the Dark by Garland, Hamlin
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.
