as in sacrilege
an act of great disrespect shown to God or to sacred ideas, people, or things
in the 17th century the Quakers were persecuted for beliefs and practices that older churches regarded as blasphemies
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Recent Examples of blasphemy
On October 31, Pakistan’s Supreme Court acquitted Asia Bibi, a Christian woman whom a lower court had sentenced to death for blasphemy.
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Madiha Afzal, Foreign Affairs, 13 Feb. 2019
Bhatti was assassinated a few months later, in March 2011, for speaking against Pakistan’s radical blasphemy laws.
—Sean Nelson, National Review, 8 Sep. 2024
Free speech, for example, was originally reined in by bans on blasphemy, cussing, and even certain theater performances.
—Roy Rivenburg, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Aug. 2024
So great is the fear of taking a stand against the blasphemy law in Pakistan that judges sometimes recuse themselves from hearing cases.
—Rana Ayyub, Washington Post, 1 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for blasphemy 
Madiha Afzal, Foreign Affairs, 13 Feb. 2019
Bhatti was assassinated a few months later, in March 2011, for speaking against Pakistan’s radical blasphemy laws.
—Sean Nelson, National Review, 8 Sep. 2024
Free speech, for example, was originally reined in by bans on blasphemy, cussing, and even certain theater performances.
—Roy Rivenburg, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Aug. 2024
So great is the fear of taking a stand against the blasphemy law in Pakistan that judges sometimes recuse themselves from hearing cases.
—Rana Ayyub, Washington Post, 1 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for blasphemy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blasphemy
Noun
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But sometimes movies need a little sacrilege to achieve their full potential.Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 13 Sep. 2024
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However, that didn’t stop right-wing figures around the world, including Donald Trump, from claiming that the performance amounted to sacrilege, leading to widespread harassment against Jolly, as well as some of the performers involved.James Factora, Them, 29 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Artifact theft and desecration are surprisingly common in national parks.Corey Buhay, Outside Online, 8 Nov. 2024
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Another count, desecration of a human corpse, was dismissed.KC Baker, People.com, 17 Oct. 2024
Noun
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The lawsuit, now in its early stages, seeks to prohibit any further clean water violations as well as civil penalties.Tom Philp, The Mercury News, 6 Nov. 2024
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The next day, my son received a notice of eviction from the property manager because of a violation of his lease’s Crime Free Addendum.Christopher A. Combs, The Arizona Republic, 5 Nov. 2024
Noun
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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
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The impieties are to be taken as possibilities, not as actual truths.Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2023
Noun
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Donald Trump slams Nancy Pelosi for corruption, calls military generals stupid Robby Soave and Nomiki Konst react to Donald Trump’s rhetoric, resorting to more name-calling.The Hill, The Hill, 5 Nov. 2024
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Newer parties are attracting more voters given Puerto Rico’s economic and political turmoil while a younger generation is decrying corruption, persistent power outages and a lack of affordable housing, among other things.Danica Coto, Chicago Tribune, 5 Nov. 2024
Noun
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No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move; ’Twere profanation of our joys To tell the laity our love.John Edgar Wideman, The New Yorker, 8 July 2021
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The first assault is on the Nile itself, which is turned to blood, thereby ruining both agriculture and aquaculture in one swoop, a profanation with religious consequences.Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 28 Nov. 2019
Noun
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The first element of the show to really break out, Bart embodies The Simpsons’ core irreverence and rebellious spirit, even as the show has branched out to showcase other characters more and more.Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 29 Sep. 2024
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The newsletter’s combination of pithy irreverence and countercultural credibility had proved popular and grew more so, accumulating nearly five hundred subjects.Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near blasphemy
Cite this Entry
“Blasphemy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blasphemy. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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