unholy
Americanadjective
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not holy; not sacred or hallowed.
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impious; sinful; wicked.
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Informal. dreadful; ungodly.
They got us out of bed at the unholy hour of three in the morning.
adjective
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not holy or sacred
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immoral or depraved
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informal outrageous or unnatural
an unholy alliance
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unholy
before 1000; Middle English; Old English unhālig (cognate with Dutch onheilig, Old Norse ūheilagr ). See un- 1, holy
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:
As a New Yorker, he was originally horrified by the idea of that unholy union but once he opened his mind to the concept he became a fan.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
At times, when throws were pilfered or just launched over the back with no jumper and seemingly no communication, it was an unholy mess.
From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2026
A God’s-eye view captures sparks and flames tearing a circle around his unholy play.
From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2026
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.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2025
Under this unholy barrage of my parents’ confusion and shame and disappointment, even I almost feel bad for Charlie.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
But last week in Mexico, where Maciel founded the ultraconservative Legion in 1941, the scandal took an even unholier turn.
From Time ● Mar. 8, 2010
But nightclub owners had unholier reasons to cry into their champagne last week.
From Time Magazine Archive
Nay, Margaret, I doubt not my thoughts have been far unholier than thine.
From In Convent Walls The Story of the Despensers by Irwin, M. (Madelaine)
Eastman, the New Yorker from Ithaca who died in 1990 homeless at age 50, paraded himself as the unholiest Minimalist, an outrageous dissonant dissident even in the seemingly accepting new music community.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2021
The next instant he was spluttering and coughing, for the doctor had dexterously placed a pill, composed of the unholiest ingredients of the engineers' stores, in the wide-open cavity.
From The Wireless Officer by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)
By the time the men tumbled up, Jacka had his helm up, and the Van der Werf, with sheets pinned, was leaning to it and knocking up the unholiest sputter.
From The White Wolf and Other Fireside Tales by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir
It was distinctly unbecoming in a woman whose sins were so grievous to ripple on so light-heartedly about the unholiest of cities when they sat there as jurors waiting to hear her plea for mercy.
From Otherwise Phyllis by Gibson, Charles Dana
As this apartment threatened him with still more rent veils of the unholiest, he took his leave without special ceremony, and went back without the Lector, who had to-day to give a reading.
From Titan: A Romance v. 1 (of 2) by Richter, Jean Paul Friedrich
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.
