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
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
Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impiety
Noun
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Does this sound like blasphemy?—
Bon Appétit,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
10 Apr. 2025
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Five Christian groups filed complaints to Indonesian police alleging blasphemy, leading to Thalisa’s arrest on October 8.—
Jack Guy,
CNN,
11 Mar. 2025
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
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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
Noun
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The post was an apparent violation of Major League Baseball’s social media policy, which prohibits the use of electronic devices during games.—
Paulina Dedaj,
FOXNews.com,
19 Apr. 2025
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In legal terms, the lawsuits are saying oil and gas companies violated consumer-protection laws and committed common-law civil violations such as negligence.—
Hannah Wiseman,
The Conversation,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The Trump administration is substantially scaling back the State Department's annual reports on international human rights to remove longstanding critiques of abuses such as harsh prison conditions, government corruption and restrictions on participation in the political process, NPR has learned.—
Graham Smith,
NPR,
18 Apr. 2025
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Thao has since been indicted for bribery and corruption.—
Jonathan Easley,
The Hill,
17 Apr. 2025
Noun
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For some fans, the changes may feel like a desecration.—
Jesse Green,
New York Times,
11 Apr. 2025
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Simply put, their acts are a desecration of the pursuit of knowledge.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
18 Mar. 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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Very carefully, unless your boss is Graydon Carter, whose gift for irreverence and self-deprecation is almost as legendary as his hair.—
Jim Kelly,
Air Mail,
29 Mar. 2025
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The film’s a strange but potent mix of irreverence and patriotism.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
3 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Impiety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impiety. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
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