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
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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
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For many liberals and radicals, beginning with Lord Byron, Elgin was a vandal who had committed sacrilege.—
Ralph Leonard,
The Atlantic,
4 Feb. 2025
-
But sometimes movies need a little sacrilege to achieve their full potential.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
13 Sep. 2024
Noun
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His son, Shaw, joined other fire victims in filing a lawsuit last month against Southern California Edison, accusing the utility of negligence, violation of health and safety codes and not maintaining its vegetation and equipment.—
Summer Lin,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Feb. 2025
-
In a 2012 Supreme Court case, it was ruled 9-0 that putting a tracking device on a car without a warrant is a violation of Fourth Amendment rights.—
Jason Ogaard,
Twin Cities,
7 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The mayor has been under sharp scrutiny since President Trump’s Department Justice Department last week ordered prosecutors in his federal corruption case to drop the criminal charges against him.—
Chris Sommerfeldt,
New York Daily News,
18 Feb. 2025
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Four deputy mayors from New York City Mayor Eric Adams' administration resigned Monday after the Justice Department moved to dismiss Adams' corruption case.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
17 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Both girls were also charged with arson, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and desecration of human remains.—
Rachel Hale,
USA TODAY,
21 Jan. 2025
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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
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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Bringing in dramatic chromatics to reflect the couple’s charisma was a primary focus, as was toggling between Americana and gothic English design for a splash of irreverence suiting a rock star and supermodel.—
Kathryn Romeyn,
Architectural Digest,
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 21 Feb. 2025.
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