profanations

noun

plural of profanation
as in corruptions
an act of great disrespect shown to God or to sacred ideas, people, or things the First Book of the Maccabees tells of the profanation of the temple of Jerusalem by Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 167 b.c.

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for profanations
  1. violations
  2. desecrations
  3. insults
Noun
  • Lawyers in the gas station lawsuit assert that technology is enabling antitrust violations.
    — Audrey McGlinchy, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
  • Beijing has and been accused of serious human violations, including large-scale arbitrary detention of Uyghur and other Muslim minorities, in Xinjiang.
    — Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 1 July 2026
Definition of violations
Noun
  • These attempts to keep down the unquiet dead were, besides being desecrations, exercises in a lot of heavy and often forbidden labor done on decaying bodies.
    — Rivka Galchen, New Yorker, 7 Jan. 2026
  • The idea that Watkins was an enabler of Gein’s murders and subsequent desecrations could be read merely as a part of the show’s aggressive and admitted mingling of fiction and reality.
    — Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 4 Oct. 2025
Definition of desecrations
Noun
  • Hurling insults and a general dismissiveness is in, or at least tolerated.
    — Steve Buckley, New York Times, 2 July 2026
  • But back in February when the court ruled against him on tariffs, the president held an angry White House press conference, calling the conservative justices who sided against him disloyal among other insults.
    — Tamara Keith, NPR, 1 July 2026
Definition of insults
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.

Browse Nearby Words

profanation
profanations
profanatory
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Cite this Entry

“Profanations.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/profanations. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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