DEFILED Synonyms: 182 Similar and Opposite Words

defiled 1 of 2

adjective

as in contaminated

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defiled

2 of 2

verb

past tense of defile

as in polluted

to make unfit for use by the addition of something harmful or undesirable supplies of meat that had been defiled by maggots

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as in violated

to treat (a sacred place or object) shamefully or with great disrespect art conservators were careful not to do anything that might defile the holy relic

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of defiled

Verb

The murder of the family is graphic enough, but what happens to Ethan and Ivy is far more perverse, especially when Ivy’s apparently dead body is defiled by one of the feral desert gang members. — Damon Wise, Deadline, 12 Oct. 2026 The Tesla’s desecration follows a vandalism spree in Queens that saw religious centers, homes and vehicles defiled with swastikas and antisemitic slogans last month. — Barry Williams, New York Daily News, 26 June 2026 And earlier this month, Russia prompted outrage by installing an exhibit that some commentators said defiled the Katyn Memorial, the site of the mass execution of Polish POWs by the Soviets in 1940. — Nathan Hodge, CNN Money, 26 Apr. 2026 Among the false claims Energy Transfer alleged Greenpeace had spread was that the energy company defiled Native American cultural boundaries. — Mark Curriden, Dallas Morning News, 13 Mar. 2026 Militia members had ransacked and defiled the house. — Yousra Elbagir, Time, 25 Feb. 2026 As a state legislator, Lincoln stood against slave catchers backed by the federal government who defiled our state’s laws and terrorized our most vulnerable. — Chicago Tribune, 16 Feb. 2026 The work of love, and the question of what happens when love is absent or defiled, became a central preoccupation. — Literary Hub, 15 Jan. 2026 Their beautiful sanctuary has been defiled, and Emily is fired. — Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for defiled

Adjective

The audit, released Monday, identified a host of issues, including regulators’ failure to meet regular inspection schedules or to conduct sufficient random checks at dispensaries for contaminated products.

— Christopher Osher, ProPublica, 21 Oct. 2026
To break the chains of infections stemming from contaminated needles, Soqo has proposed supplying thousands of sterile needles and syringes to communities of methamphetamine users.

— David Cox, NPR, 26 Sep. 2026

Definition of contaminated

Verb

When those waters are polluted, the damage is not confined to a technical measurement in a permit or a line on a monitoring report.

— Dana Adkins, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2026
In a world riven by democratic backsliding and polluted with AI slop, there’s something seductive about the idea of retreating to a wild, unnavigable place where no one can follow you—because you’ll be submerged up to your eyeballs.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of polluted

Verb

In January, the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights concluded that the school violated Title IX over athletic participation, facilities and its response to complaints.

— Jackson Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2026
Unless disclosed to and approved by the US government and reported on his tax returns, Kushner’s access to the Alpha account may have violated US law.

— Matthew Cole, Vanity Fair, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of violated

Adjective

Will Stewart be seduced into the path of corruption by using Sinestro’s emotionally tainted battery, or steel himself against ill influences and continue to blaze his own trail as Earth's sole protector for the time being?

— Jeff Spry, Space.com, 17 Oct. 2026
Some say that our country is too tainted and that political progress can be had only by extra-legal means.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of tainted

Verb

Apparently, Griffith now suspected that the Mesmers had poisoned Briswalter, and planned to poison him next.

— Andrew Coletti, Popular Science, 14 Oct. 2026
The video cuts to Swift living out exactly what Johnson’s been living through, revealing that Farrell poisoned Swift, leading to her death.

— Nicole Fell, HollywoodReporter, 27 Sep. 2026

Definition of poisoned

Verb

Then in January 2026, according to police, a potential family member reached out to police and said the mausoleum and grave of a relative at Riverview Cemetery were unlawfully desecrated in 2002.

— David Chiu, PEOPLE, 8 Sep. 2026
Skeletal remains found in a Wilmington, Delaware, park 15 years ago have been identified as a woman who died in 1907, and whose gravesite was later desecrated.

— Joe Brandt, CBS News, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of desecrated

Adjective

Wise’s wistful songwriting is retained, but completely missing is his intentionally impure palette.

— Billie Bugara, Pitchfork, 7 Mar. 2026
Kanto practitioners believe that women cannot participate because, according to Japan's Shinto religion, women's blood from menstruation and childbirth is considered impure for the purpose of religious rituals.

— Anthony Kuhn, NPR, 3 Nov. 2025

Definition of impure

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“Defiled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defiled. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of defiled

adjective

verb

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