sacrilege

sac-ri-lege · noun

imported

Definitions

noun

  1. 1.

    Violation or misuse of what is regarded as sacred.

  2. 2.

    An act regarded as a gross violation of something highly valued.

Forms

plural: sacrileges

Related words

Antonyms: reverence, veneration
See also: blasphemy, desecration, profanity
Synonyms: blasphemy, desecration, profanation

Etymology

From Latin sacrilegium, from sacrilegus "one who steals sacred things," from sacer "sacred" + legere "to take, gather."