defiling 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of defilingnext
as in pernicious

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

defiling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of defile
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

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

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for defiling
  1. pernicious
  2. violating
  3. cursed
  4. unwholesome
  5. corrupt
  6. forbidden
  7. prohibited
  8. pestilential
Adjective
  • Academic opportunists the past week showed once more how pernicious, naïve misinformation can catch fire and consume the truth, especially when dressed with the veneer of academic credibility.
    Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 2 Feb. 2023
  • Most of us can agree the world is in a perilous state, with natural disasters multiplying, pernicious new viruses continually emerging, the planet steadily overheating, and wars raging in constant rotation.
    David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Feb. 2023
Definition of pernicious
Verb
  • Angel City also received a $20,000 cash fine, plus a loss of $20,000 in unfunded allocation money, in 2021 for violating the NWSL’s tampering policy regarding then-Gotham player Allie Long.
    Dan Bernstein, Sportico.com, 4 Oct. 2024
  • The five officers, who were members of a crime suppression team called the Scorpion Unit, were fired after Nichols' death for violating police department policies.
    Tim Stelloh, NBC News, 4 Oct. 2024
Definition of violating
Adjective
  • There are not only graphic battles of intense color and design but also psychedelic trips, including a trippy one inside the cursed realm of warrior god Hoenir’s head.
    Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 19 Sep. 2024
  • The cursed man is William Hickman, a merchant who lived there with his family beginning in 1596.
    Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Nov. 2024
Definition of cursed
Adjective
  • As for the place, its veneer of comfortable tourism doesn’t hide the air of something unwholesome, especially when female guests start randomly throwing up.
    David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Feb. 2024
  • Less visibly, Manton operated a side business with a more unwholesome objective: cashing in on his status and power as a judge.
    Time, Time, 25 July 2023
Definition of unwholesome
Adjective
  • Zoe Saldaña as Rita, a jaded defense attorney for white-collar criminals, is writing her closing argument, asking the jury to exonerate her client, a corrupt bureaucrat accused of pushing his wife off a balcony.
    Paula Aceves, Vulture, 4 Nov. 2024
  • In their telling, the fraud blamed on Dorje Chang was, in fact, pulled off by one of his corrupt former disciples.
    Joseph Bien-Kahn, Rolling Stone, 3 Nov. 2024
Definition of corrupt
Adjective
  • Within the forbidden halls of Division Five, Suzie finds all the windows covered with plywood.
    Chris Klimek, Vulture, 10 July 2024
  • Countless vampire stories make the allure of the vampire as some sort of forbidden fruit—tantalizing, but a bite will invariably lead to ruin.
    James Grebey, TIME, 18 Oct. 2024
Definition of forbidden
Adjective
  • For example, Customs and Border Protection in the United States maintains a list of prohibited and restricted items for anyone entering the US and links to other departments if permits are required.
    Erica Kasper, WIRED, 21 Aug. 2024
  • Travelers can visit the CBP website to learn more about prohibited and restricted items.
    Nicole Lopez, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 May 2024
Definition of prohibited
Adjective
  • And to make matters worse, crime rates have risen, demonstrations by taxi drivers have turned violent, and a bungled garbage collection policy has blanketed Luanda with waste and a pestilential stench.
    Ricardo Soares De Oliveira, Foreign Affairs, 28 Oct. 2015
  • But life back then was pretty sketchy and precarious even without pestilential rats running around, unbound.
    Scott LaFee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 July 2023
Definition of pestilential
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.

Thesaurus Entries Near defiling

defiles

defiling

definable

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Cite this Entry

“Defiling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defiling. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

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More from Merriam-Webster on defiling

Nglish: Translation of defiling for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of defiling for Arabic Speakers

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