Meanings
plural sacrileges · alternative obsolete sacriledge
- uncountableusuallyDesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something regarded as sacred.
I recall the height of comfort attained by the green-cushioned "first" with starched white antimacassars and a pretentious grey floor mat on which it seemed a sacrilege to stand, as it was embellished with the North Western conception of Britannia, complete with trident.
1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, pages 703-704Synonyms: blasphemy, blasphemy, desecration, profanation
Synonyms & antonyms
nounDesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something regarded as sacred.
More synonyms by meaning
nounblasphemous behavior; the act of depriving something of its sacred character
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinsacrilegium
- Old Frenchsacrilege
- Middle Englishsacrilege
- Englishsacrilege
Circa 1300, original sense “stealing something sacred”. From Middle English sacrilege, from Old French sacrilege, from Latin sacrilegium, from sacrilegus (“sacrilegious”). Sense of “profanation” from late 14th century.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἱεροσυλία
- ἱεροσυλία (hierosulía)desecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Arabic تَدْنِيس, تَرْجِيس
- تَدْنِيس (tadnīs)desecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
- تَرْجِيس (tarjīs)desecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Bulgarian кощу́нство, светота́тство
- кощу́нство (koštúnstvo)desecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
- светота́тство (svetotátstvo)desecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Catalan sacrilegi
- sacrilegidesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Chinese Mandarin 冒瀆 /冒渎
- 冒瀆 /冒渎 (màodú)desecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Czech svatokrádež
- svatokrádeždesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Danish helligbrøde
- helligbrødedesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Dutch heiligschennis
- heiligschennisdesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Esperanto sakrilegio
- sakrilegiodesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Estonian pühaduseteotus
- pühaduseteotusdesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Finnish pyhäinhäväistys
- pyhäinhäväistysdesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
French sacrilège
- sacrilègedesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
German Sakrileg
- Sakrilegdesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Greek ιεροσυλία
- ιεροσυλία (ierosylía)desecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Hungarian szentségtörés
- szentségtörésdesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Indonesian sakrilegi
- sakrilegidesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Italian sacrilegio
- sacrilegiodesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Japanese 冒涜
- 冒涜 (bōtoku)desecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Korean 모독
- 모독 (modok)desecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Latin sacrilegium
- sacrilegiumdesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Norwegian Bokmål helligbrød
- helligbrøddesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Polish blasfemia, bluźnierstwo
- blasfemiadesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
- bluźnierstwodesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
- profanacjadesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
- świętokradztwodesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Portuguese sacrilégio
- sacrilégiodesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Romanian sacrilegiu
- sacrilegiudesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Russian кощу́нство, святота́тство
- кощу́нство (koščúnstvo)desecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
- святота́тство (svjatotátstvo)desecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Slovak svätokrádež
- svätokrádeždesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Spanish sacrilegio
- sacrilegiodesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Swedish helgerån, skändlighet
- helgeråndesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
- skändlighetdesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
- hädelsedesecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Ukrainian святота́тство, блюзнірство
- святота́тство (svjatotátstvo)desecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
- блюзнірство (bljuznirstvo)desecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something sacred
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
sacrilege. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sacrilege
“sacrilege.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sacrilege. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sacrilege,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sacrilege.
Source: sacrilege on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.