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
-
Arguments and accusations of blasphemy regarding teaching yoga sutras rather than Bible scripture are rife within the Black yoga community.—
Tamika Caston-Miller,
Outside Online,
26 Feb. 2025
-
Throughout its engagement with the OIC, the special envoy has prioritized the protection of human rights, routinely championing the equal rights of religious minorities and opposing laws that criminalize blasphemy and apostasy.—
Arsalan Suleman,
Foreign Affairs,
24 Aug. 2017
Noun
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Such a transformation would represent an irrevocable loss: a profound sacrilege not only to the city’s rich history but also to the cultural legacy for the future generations.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
23 Feb. 2025
-
For many liberals and radicals, beginning with Lord Byron, Elgin was a vandal who had committed sacrilege.—
Ralph Leonard,
The Atlantic,
4 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Poppy Alexander, a partner at Whistleblower Partners who represents whistleblowers reporting corporate FCPA violations, echoes this thinking.—
Kristen Edgreen Kaufman,
Forbes,
3 Mar. 2025
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The violations for each of the officers included standard of conduct violations, death investigation procedure violations and report preparation violations.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
People.com,
3 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
The unaccountable bureaucracy and bloated government that find a home there, and the public and private corruption that go along with them, face serious scrutiny and genuine antagonism for the first time in a while.—
Jack Butler,
National Review,
2 Mar. 2025
-
Supporters hope the ex-governor can find success as a moderate with a tough-guy reputation, big name recognition and an ability to bring stability to city government amid Adams’ federal corruption indictment and Trump’s threats to the city.—
Chris Sommerfeldt,
New York Daily News,
1 Mar. 2025
Noun
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To Michael Hirsch, the desecration of hundreds of graves was a shanda, a shame, a ghoulish crime.—
Maria Cramer,
New York Times,
16 Feb. 2025
-
The killing and desecration of Laura continues resonating throughout the original show’s 30 episode run, even as Agent Cooper and the local police branch away from it and begin dealing with local corruption and assorted personal melodramas.—
Matt Zoller Seitz,
Vulture,
16 Jan. 2025
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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In the 1938 classic The Adventures of Robin Hood, Robin Hood is a happy iconoclast, meting out his form of social and political justice with the cheerful irreverence and deft strokes of Errol Flynn, cinema’s premier swashbuckler.—
Scott Tobias,
Vulture,
20 Nov. 2024
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There’s a naturally compelling story to be told: An untested but confident producer (Gabriel LaBelle stars as the young Lorne Michaels) feeling the pressure of a first show built on irreverence, at odds with a stodgy network accustomed to Johnny Carson’s after-hours royalty.—
Robert Abele,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Sep. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Impiety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impiety. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
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