Meanings
comparative more sacrilegious · superlative most sacrilegious
- Committing sacrilege; acting or speaking very disrespectfully toward what is held to be sacred.
At one end of the room was spread a square carpet, and on it stood a table, on which were placed two most sacrilegious-looking wax-tapers: it is to be feared some poor sinner stayed longer in purgatory from the abduction of his offering.
1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter II, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 26
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivegrossly irreverent toward what is held to be sacred
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinsacer
- Englishsacrilegious
Compare sacrilege, Latin sacrilegus. From Latin sacer + legō (“steal something sacred”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian кощунствен, светотатствен
- кощунствен (koštunstven)committing sacrilege
- светотатствен (svetotatstven)committing sacrilege
Catalan sacríleg
- sacrílegcommitting sacrilege
Esperanto malpia
- malpiacommitting sacrilege
French sacrilège
- sacrilègecommitting sacrilege
German gotteslästerlich
- gotteslästerlichcommitting sacrilege
Hungarian szentségtörő
- szentségtörőcommitting sacrilege
Italian sacrilego
- sacrilegocommitting sacrilege
Latin sacrilegus
- sacrileguscommitting sacrilege
Polish bluźnierczy, świętokradczy
- bluźnierczycommitting sacrilege
- świętokradczycommitting sacrilege
- świętokradzkicommitting sacrilege
Portuguese sacrílego
- sacrílegocommitting sacrilege
Romanian sacrileg
- sacrilegcommitting sacrilege
Russian святота́тственный, богоху́льный
- святота́тственный (svjatotátstvennyj)committing sacrilege
- богоху́льный (bogoxúlʹnyj)committing sacrilege
- богоху́льственный (bogoxúlʹstvennyj)committing sacrilege
- кощу́нственный (koščúnstvennyj)committing sacrilege
Spanish sacrílego
- sacrílegocommitting sacrilege
Swedish vanhelgande
- vanhelgandecommitting sacrilege
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with sacrilegious
All rhymes →Cite this entry
sacrilegious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sacrilegious
“sacrilegious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sacrilegious. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sacrilegious,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sacrilegious.
Source: sacrilegious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.