|
|
Definition of Desecrate
1. Verb. Violate the sacred character of a place or language. "Profane the name of God"
Generic synonyms: Assail, Assault, Attack, Set On
Derivative terms: Desecration, Profanation, Violation, Violation, Violative
2. Verb. Remove the consecration from a person or an object.
Generic synonyms: Change By Reversal, Reverse, Turn
Antonyms: Consecrate
Definition of Desecrate
1. v. t. To divest of a sacred character or office; to divert from a sacred purpose; to violate the sanctity of; to profane; to put to an unworthy use; -- the opposite of consecrate.
Definition of Desecrate
1. Verb. (transitive) To profane or violate the sacredness or sanctity of something. ¹
2. Verb. (transitive) To remove the consecration from someone or something; to deconsecrate. ¹
3. Verb. (transitive) To inappropriately change. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Desecrate
1. [v -CRATED, -CRATING, -CRATES]
Lexicographical Neighbors of Desecrate
Literary usage of Desecrate
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Edinburgh Review by Sydney Smith (1869)
"when asked if he purposed violence to the shrine, repudiated as the grossest
insult the idea that he could desecrate the place where rests the spirit of' ..."
2. The Life and Times of C. G. Memminger by Henry Dickson Capers, Union State Rights Party South Carolina (1893)
"The members of a Legislature who can thus resolve to desecrate the name of freedom
and pervert its meaning, by harboring such feelings towards their ..."
3. Religious Liberty Library (1892)
"But the secret of the whole matter is this : As an argument for the Sunday law,
these men assert that the great railroad corporations desecrate the Sabbath, ..."
4. Cooper's Works by James Fenimore Cooper, William Cullen Bryant (1855)
"Neither of us thought of self, and I would as soon have attempted to desecrate
a church, as attempt to obtain any influence over Lucy, in my own behalf, ..."
5. The Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary by Edward Tregear (1891)
"... to make a sacred thing common ; to desecrate. Cf. paru, dirt, mud, muddy;
hapiro, to violate tapu, by eating at a sacred place. HAPE, crooked. ..."
Other Resources:
