impiety
noun
im·pi·e·ty
(ˌ)im-ˈpī-ə-tē 
plural impieties
1
: the quality or state of being impious : irreverence
2
: an impious act
Synonyms
Examples of impiety in a Sentence
the unspeakable impiety of spitting in a church
Recent Examples on the Web
Clouzot supplied that insight in strong visual terms: Fresnay’s conflicting impiety and righteous anger and so much dissatisfaction and panic among the townsfolk.
—
Armond White, National Review, 20 Nov. 2024
But the books complement each other in isolating a specific strain of mid-century masculinity, one that’s a strange mix of entitlement and passivity, austerity and impiety, dutifulness and indifference.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 20 Sep. 2024
The impieties are to be taken as possibilities, not as actual truths.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2023
Yet impieties are explosive, which may explain why comic careers oscillate between in and out, as with those of Lenny Bruce and Andrew Dice Clay—one going from sick to saintly, the other from provocatively transgressive to vehemently taboo, in short order.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2023
If Socrates were still around (Letters, Nov. 3), he wouldn’t be canceled for impiety and corrupting the youth.
—Stephen Borkowski, WSJ, 7 Nov. 2023
Asclepius was a gifted healer, too gifted perhaps, and he was killed by Zeus for the impiety of raising the dead.
—Teju Cole, New York Times, 12 Sep. 2023
Such impiety led the tsar’s censors to ban many of Afanasyev’s tales.
—Stephen Pimenoff, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2021
His fellow Athenians, led by an up-and-coming politician named Meletus, charged him with impiety and corrupting the youth.
—Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 7 Sep. 2022
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Armond White, National Review, 20 Nov. 2024
But the books complement each other in isolating a specific strain of mid-century masculinity, one that’s a strange mix of entitlement and passivity, austerity and impiety, dutifulness and indifference.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 20 Sep. 2024
The impieties are to be taken as possibilities, not as actual truths.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2023
Yet impieties are explosive, which may explain why comic careers oscillate between in and out, as with those of Lenny Bruce and Andrew Dice Clay—one going from sick to saintly, the other from provocatively transgressive to vehemently taboo, in short order.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2023
If Socrates were still around (Letters, Nov. 3), he wouldn’t be canceled for impiety and corrupting the youth.
—Stephen Borkowski, WSJ, 7 Nov. 2023
Asclepius was a gifted healer, too gifted perhaps, and he was killed by Zeus for the impiety of raising the dead.
—Teju Cole, New York Times, 12 Sep. 2023
Such impiety led the tsar’s censors to ban many of Afanasyev’s tales.
—Stephen Pimenoff, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2021
His fellow Athenians, led by an up-and-coming politician named Meletus, charged him with impiety and corrupting the youth.
—Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 7 Sep. 2022
Dictionary Entries Near impiety
Cite this Entry
“Impiety.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impiety. Accessed 20 Dec. 2024.
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