1
as in polluting
to make unfit for use by the addition of something harmful or undesirable
supplies of meat that had been defiled by maggots
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in violating
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in pernicious
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defiling
Verb
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China’s is arguably the most important; whatever the world’s most-polluting country does will determine the planet’s climate trajectory.—
Ella Nilsen,
CNN Money,
24 Sep. 2025 -
Transition finance, where financial firms actively pursue opportunities to fund polluting companies’ emissions reductions, has become a hot area.—
Justin Worland,
Time,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
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According to Hays, who is representing Richard and Holly, no such conspiracy existed, and whether or not Richard and Holly knew whether the money went to boys’ ranches is irrelevant, since Baker’s case was focused on violating estray laws, not any financial motivation.—
Mitch Moxley,
Rolling Stone,
27 Sep. 2025
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Nicholson hasn't been accused of violating campaign finance laws.—
Sophie Carson,
jsonline.com,
27 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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But such ads have been shown to support pernicious behaviors and beliefs around food, exercise and body image.—
Mallary Tenore Tarpley,
USA Today,
22 Sep. 2025
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Perhaps the most pernicious aspect of calls for affirming art is their reduction of art to subject matter.—
Garth Greenwell,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Hidden resentments could be poisoning your work-life balance.—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
21 Sep. 2025
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That same day, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for fatally poisoning Angela.—
Doc Louallen,
ABC News,
19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Can a new Netflix series make sense of one of the most cursed families in Europe?—
Joseph Bullmore,
Air Mail,
20 Sep. 2025
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The story follows a young mother, played by Tram Anh, who moves to the city with her three children in the hope of a better future, not realising her new home was built on a cursed day meaning that every owner is doomed to die.—
Liz Shackleton,
Deadline,
19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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But unlike Materialists, those movies—pictures like Leo McCarey’s The Awful Truth or Preston Sturges’ The Palm Beach Story—emerged in a time when Hollywood censors were keeping a close eye on movies’ ideology, determined to protect audiences from unwholesome influences.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
13 June 2025
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By mid-afternoon the weather turned downright unwholesome.—
Arthur Grahame,
Outdoor Life,
4 June 2025
Adjective
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Our institutions are failing us — either corrupt or underfunded, gutted and useless — and we’re absorbed with stories of characters that manage to save themselves, and on their own terms.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
28 Sep. 2025
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That failure was on corrupt leadership.—
Emma Marsden,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Only the first is still fashionable, and the last has been so debased, misused, and weaponized over the centuries as to be almost unspeakable in polite company.—
Zadie Smith,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
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But in recent years, acts of brazen violence have been the grim drumbeat of a debased national politics.—
Eric Cortellessa,
Time,
11 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Defiling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defiling. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.
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