Synonyms for profane
- adjective
- verb
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Secular — not sacred or holy, unconsecrated; relating to non-religious matters, secular
secular, unholy, impious, god-less, irreligious, wicked, mundane, worldly, ungodly, temporal, non-religious, unhallowed, unsanctified, earthly, mean, civil, lay, unconsecrated, vile, carnal, naughty, terrestrial
2. Blasphemous — unclean; ritually impure; unholy, desecrating a holy place or thing
blasphemous, sacrilegious, vulgar, obscene, impure, foul-mouthed, lewd, uncouth, dirty, defiled, debased, ignoble, mishallowed, ribald, bawdy, raunchy, indecent, filthy, smutty, coarse, common dated
Other
irreverent, inappropriate, offensive, blue informal, profanatory
Verb
1. Corrupt — to put to a wrong or unworthy use; to debase; to abuse; to defile
corrupt, misuse, pervert, debase, pollute, abuse, demean, debauch, prostitute, subvert, vitiate, degrade, misdirect, demoralize UK US, demoralise UK, misapply, abase, deprave, dishonor US, dishonour UK, taint, contaminate, befoul, misemploy
Definitions
- adj. 1
Unclean; ritually impure; unholy, desecrating a holy place or thing.
- adj. 2
Not sacred or holy, unconsecrated; relating to non-religious matters, secular.
- v. 1
To put to a wrong or unworthy use; to debase; to abuse; to defile.
- v. 2
To violate (something sacred); to treat with abuse, irreverence, obloquy, or contempt; to desecrate
to profane the Scriptures
Related words
- Word family
- profaneness profanate profanation profanatory profanity
Forms
- Past participle
- profaned
e.g. profaned → corrupted, misused, perverted, debased…
Example sentences
- secular January is the first month in the secular calendar.
- unholy Begone, wretched spawn of Hell's unholy bowels!
- irreligious The irreligious scoffed at the bishop's interpretation.
- impious O most wicked and impious of men, to what lengths has your madness driven you!
- blasphemous Many great truths were originally blasphemous.
- sacrilegious Would it be sacrilegious to make a chair from a bier?
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| profane | rising | |
| secular | rising | |
| unholy | rising | |
| irreligious | steady | |
| impious | steady | |
| blasphemous | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- lay1
- 4 letters
- mean1, blue1, vile1, lewd1
- 5 letters
- civil2, abuse2, dirty2, taint1, bawdy2, abase
- 6 letters
- common2, wicked2, filthy2, vulgar2, misuse2, coarse1, unholy3, carnal2, impure2, demean2, defile, smutty2, ribald2, debase2
- 7 letters
- corrupt2, secular3, naughty2, violate3, outrage2, obscene2, mundane2, worldly2, earthly2, pervert2, degrade2, subvert2, ungodly3, pollute2
- 8 letters
- temporal3, indecent3, dishonor3, misapply3, unhallow
- 9 letters
- offensive3, dishonour, desecrate3, misdirect3, misemploy, profanate
- 10 letters
- prostitute3, irreverent4, demoralize4, unhallowed, demoralise
- 11 letters
- terrestrial4, blasphemous3, contaminate4, irreligious, mishallowed, profanatory
- 12 letters
- sacrilegious4, unsanctified
- 13 letters
- inappropriate5, unconsecrated
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (civil2 = 2 syllables).