as in blasphemy
an act of great disrespect shown to God or to sacred ideas, people, or things
the unspeakable impiety of spitting in a church
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Recent Examples of impiety
By one hand, he is bound to himself, to his impiety, his recklessness, his envy and pride, his guilt and spite.
—
Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024
Clouzot supplied that insight in strong visual terms: Fresnay’s conflicting impiety and righteous anger and so much dissatisfaction and panic among the townsfolk.
—Armond White, National Review, 20 Nov. 2024
But the books complement each other in isolating a specific strain of mid-century masculinity, one that’s a strange mix of entitlement and passivity, austerity and impiety, dutifulness and indifference.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 20 Sep. 2024
The impieties are to be taken as possibilities, not as actual truths.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2023
Yet impieties are explosive, which may explain why comic careers oscillate between in and out, as with those of Lenny Bruce and Andrew Dice Clay—one going from sick to saintly, the other from provocatively transgressive to vehemently taboo, in short order.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2023
If Socrates were still around (Letters, Nov. 3), he wouldn’t be canceled for impiety and corrupting the youth.
—Stephen Borkowski, WSJ, 7 Nov. 2023
Asclepius was a gifted healer, too gifted perhaps, and he was killed by Zeus for the impiety of raising the dead.
—Teju Cole, New York Times, 12 Sep. 2023
Such impiety led the tsar’s censors to ban many of Afanasyev’s tales.
—Stephen Pimenoff, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2021
Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024
Clouzot supplied that insight in strong visual terms: Fresnay’s conflicting impiety and righteous anger and so much dissatisfaction and panic among the townsfolk.
—Armond White, National Review, 20 Nov. 2024
But the books complement each other in isolating a specific strain of mid-century masculinity, one that’s a strange mix of entitlement and passivity, austerity and impiety, dutifulness and indifference.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 20 Sep. 2024
The impieties are to be taken as possibilities, not as actual truths.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2023
Yet impieties are explosive, which may explain why comic careers oscillate between in and out, as with those of Lenny Bruce and Andrew Dice Clay—one going from sick to saintly, the other from provocatively transgressive to vehemently taboo, in short order.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2023
If Socrates were still around (Letters, Nov. 3), he wouldn’t be canceled for impiety and corrupting the youth.
—Stephen Borkowski, WSJ, 7 Nov. 2023
Asclepius was a gifted healer, too gifted perhaps, and he was killed by Zeus for the impiety of raising the dead.
—Teju Cole, New York Times, 12 Sep. 2023
Such impiety led the tsar’s censors to ban many of Afanasyev’s tales.
—Stephen Pimenoff, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impiety
Noun
-
But there is evidence that French society is shifting on the acceptance of blasphemy, particularly among France’s 5-million-strong Muslim population and the younger generation.—
Colette Davidson,
The Christian Science Monitor,
8 Jan. 2025
-
The other side: To turkey's defenders, this is blasphemy — and the haters revealing their own poor culinary skills.—
Jeff Weiner,
Axios,
25 Nov. 2024
Noun
-
But sometimes movies need a little sacrilege to achieve their full potential.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
13 Sep. 2024
-
However, that didn’t stop right-wing figures around the world, including Donald Trump, from claiming that the performance amounted to sacrilege, leading to widespread harassment against Jolly, as well as some of the performers involved.—
James Factora,
Them,
29 Oct. 2024
Noun
-
The first shot was off from Solo Ball, who finished with a game-high 20 points on 6-for-17 shooting, and the second didn’t leave Jayden Ross’ hand in time, a shot clock violation with five seconds left that allowed the Musketeers to seal the game at the free throw line.—
Joe Arruda,
Hartford Courant,
26 Jan. 2025
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Weidner is trying to get several South Florida cities, including Davie and Boca Raton, to join in, calling homes subject to foreclosure because of aggressive enforcement of code violations a potential goldmine of untapped revenue.—
Ben Wieder,
Miami Herald,
26 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Although Russia has struggled to embrace startup culture, the big contractors have a stranglehold on the supply process; corruption is endemic, and the military know who to buy from.—
David Hambling,
Forbes,
24 Jan. 2025
-
The council has been target of calls for a reconfiguration following its lack of action on the corruption allegations, dissatisfaction with many of its decisions and the escalating gang violence.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
23 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Robbed of the event’s usual flair, the competitors instead put on a display of oafish masculinity, eating Combos on the ice and getting overly handsy with a female partner, among other desecrations of the sport.—
Dan Reilly,
Vulture,
30 July 2024
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Jared Krysiak pleaded guilty to a charge of desecration of human remains in connection with brutal slaying of Kerry Rollason, according to a statement released by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday.—
Jessica Schladebeck,
New York Daily News,
18 Dec. 2024
Noun
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No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move; ’Twere profanation of our joys To tell the laity our love.—
John Edgar Wideman,
The New Yorker,
8 July 2021
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The first assault is on the Nile itself, which is turned to blood, thereby ruining both agriculture and aquaculture in one swoop, a profanation with religious consequences.—
Kevin D. Williamson,
National Review,
28 Nov. 2019
Noun
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His sobering diagnosis, complete irreverence, and insatiable curiosity, send him on an unexpected journey learning how to die happily and ridiculously without losing his sense of humor.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
24 Jan. 2025
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His sobering diagnosis, complete irreverence and insatiable curiosity, send him on an unexpected journey learning how to die happily and ridiculously without losing his sense of humor.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
11 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near impiety
Cite this Entry
“Impiety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impiety. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.
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