unholy

[uhn-hoh-lee]

adjective

unholier, unholiest 

1. not holy; not sacred or hallowed.

2. impious; sinful; wicked.

3. Informal.,  dreadful; ungodly.

   They got us out of bed at the unholy hour of three in the morning.

unholy

/ ʌnˈhəʊlɪ /

adjective

1. not holy or sacred

2. immoral or depraved

3. informal,  outrageous or unnatural

   an unholy alliance

Other Word Forms

• unholiness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unholy¹

before 1000; Middle English; Old English unhālig (cognate with Dutch onheilig, Old Norse ūheilagr ). See un- ¹, holy

Example Sentences

I would have booked a hotel room as soon as Alexa started taking cues from some unholy presence.

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But who doubts that money has an unholy influence on our elections?

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Combine “There Will Be Blood’s” voracious oil baron and “The Master’s” manipulative spiritual guru with this movie’s America-first nativists and you have Anderson’s unholy trinity of characters who have corrupted our founders’ ideals.

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Another opponent, Lord Patten, branded the bill an "unholy legislative mess" that he said could lead to death becoming the "default solution to perceived suffering".

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Now one of Egypt's most sacred places - revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims - is at the heart of an unholy row over plans to turn it into a new tourism mega-project.

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