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If you abominate something, you hate it because you think it is extremely wrong and unacceptable.
When you absolve someone, you publicly and formally say that they are not guilty or responsible for any wrongdoing.
If you adulterate something, you lessen its quality by adding inferior ingredients or elements to it.
If you besmirch someone, you spoil their good reputation by saying bad things about them, usually things that you know are not true.
Something is a blight if it spoils or damages things severely; blight is often used to describe something that ruins or kills crops.
When the Catholic Church canonizes someone, they are officially declared a saint; by extension, canonizing a person is to treat them as nearly sacred, whereas canonizing a work of art is to place it in an accepted group of the very best of its kind.
To defile something holy or important is to do something to it or say something about it that is highly offensive to others.
If someone is deified, they have been either made into a god or are adored like one.
Something that is deleterious has a harmful effect.
If you denigrate something, you criticize or speak ill of it in a way that shows you think it has little to no value at all.
When you esteem something, you have a high regard for it because you value it in some way.
A eulogy is a speech or other piece of writing, often part of a funeral, in which someone or something is highly praised.
If you extol something or someone, you praise it or them very enthusiastically.
When you pay homage to another person, you show great admiration, respect, or even worship towards them.
Something that is immaculate is very clean, pure, or completely free from error.
Something innocuous is not likely to offend or harm anyone.
When someone is lionized, they are treated as being very important or famous—although they may not deserve to be.
A liturgy is a set of rules or formal procedures used during a church service.
A malevolent person or thing is evil due to deliberate attempts to cause harm.
Malfeasance is an unlawful act, especially one committed by a trusted public official.
Piety is showing devotion or loyalty towards something, especially a religion.
If soldiers pillage a place, such as a town or museum, they steal a lot of things and damage it using violent methods.
Something that is pristine has not lost any of its original perfection or purity.
When you ravage something, you completely destroy, wreck, or damage it.
When you are reverent, you show a great deal of respect, admiration, or even awe for someone or something.
If something is reviled, it is intensely hated and criticized.
A sacrilegious act is one of deep disrespect that violates something that is sacred or holy.
To taint is to give an undesirable quality that damages a person’s reputation or otherwise spoils something.
When you trammel something or someone, you bring about limits to freedom or hinder movements or activities in some fashion.
Something that is unalloyed is whole or complete; for example, unalloyed pain cannot be relieved.
To come out of something unscathed is to come out of it uninjured.
Something that is unsullied is unstained and clean.
Venerable people command respect because they are old and wise.
If you vilify people, you write or say bad things about them in an attempt to make them unpopular.
If someone vitiates something, they make it less effective, weaker, or reduced in quality.
Vituperative remarks are full of hate, anger, and cruel criticism.
Verb
desecrate
DES-i-krayt
Context
For centuries, robbers have looted and desecrated the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs. Even during the early part of the twentieth century, archaeologists destroyed, spoiled, and desecrated grave sites in the name of science. In the twenty-first century, we have come to believe that burial sites are to be treated with respect and should not be desecrated or violated. Digging into them, whether for treasure or for information, is a kind of desecration or abuse not to be taken lightly.
Dessert Crate Don't you dare desecrate that dessert crate by leaving it out in the sun, because it's mine, all mine!
Examples
French Culture Minister Christine Albanel, reacting to Sunday’s incident, pledged to seek improved security in museums and stronger sanctions against those who desecrate art.
—
USA Today
There is a different reality at the mosque where Ahmadinejad voted, in front of which, during his 2005 presidential victory, large American and Israeli flags were painted onto the street for motorists to desecrate by driving over.
—
The Christian Science Monitor
Proposals to amend the Constitution by allowing both the Federal and state governments to prosecute those who physically desecrate the flag have been introduced in both the House and the Senate.
—
The New York Times
The narrowly worded legislation would have made it a crime to desecrate the flag under certain circumstances, such as when trying to incite violence.
—
USA Today
To desecrate something is to take it “from” a “holy state” to one that is “off” of being “sacred.”
Word Theater
Batman Desecrating priceless art.
The panel shows a small video clip of either the word in actual use or a scene that represents the meaning of a word. This not only breaks up the monotony of studying words but also provides another avenue to strengthen word meaning. Enjoy!
Word Constellation
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Related Words
abominate ·
adulterate ·
besmirch ·
blight ·
defile ·
deleterious ·
denigrate ·
malevolent ·
malfeasance ·
pillage ·
ravage+ ·
revile ·
sacrilegious+ ·
taint ·
trammel ·
vilify ·
vitiate ·
vituperative ·
absolve ·
canonize ·
deify ·
esteem+ ·
eulogy ·
extol ·
homage+ ·
immaculate+ ·
innocuous ·
lionize ·
liturgy+ ·
piety+ ·
pristine ·
reverent+ ·
unalloyed ·
unscathed ·
unsullied ·
venerable ·
Similar sense
Opposite sense
Word Variants
desecration
n
→
the act of violating something holy
The section lists important variants and alternate definitions of the headword. Knowing variants will often help you both remember and understand the word. Not all variants are listed - only the ones we think that are important for you to know.
