sacrilegious

sacrilegious
/sak'reuh lij"euhs, -lee"jeuhs/, adj.
1. pertaining to or involving sacrilege: sacrilegious practices.
2. guilty of sacrilege: a sacrilegious person.
[1400-50; late ME sacrilegiose; see SACRILEGE, -OUS]
Pronunciation. The almost universal pronunciation of SACRILEGIOUS as /sak'reuh lij"euhs/ is the result of folk etymology - modifying the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word so that it conforms to a more familiar one - in this case religious. Etymologically, SACRILEGIOUS has no direct relationship to religious. The historical pronunciation /sak'reuh lee"jeuhs/ occurs in American English, though not in British English, and criticism of the newer pronunciation has almost disappeared.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Sacrilegious — Sac ri*le gious, a. [From sacrilege: cf. L. sacrilegus.] Violating sacred things; polluted with sacrilege; involving sacrilege; profane; impious. [1913 Webster] Above the reach of sacrilegious hands. Pope. [1913 Webster] {Sac ri*le gious*ly}, adv …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • sacrilegious — index profane Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • sacrilegious — (adj.) mid 15c., from L. sacrilegiosum, from sacrilegium (see SACRILEGE (Cf. sacrilege)). As a noun, one who commits a sacrilege, early 14c …   Etymology dictionary

  • sacrilegious — blasphemous, *impious, profane Analogous words: polluting, defiling (see CONTAMINATE): profaning, desecrating (see corresponding nouns at PROFANATION) …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • sacrilegious — meaning ‘violating what is regarded as sacred’, is formed from the noun sacrilege and is spelt with the first i and the e in the order shown, not (by confusion with religious) the other way round …   Modern English usage

  • sacrilegious — [adj] profane atheistic, blasphemous, desecrating, dirty*, filthy*, foul, godless, heathen, impious, indecent, infidel, irreligious, irreverent, irreverential, obscene, pagan, sinful, ungodly, unhallowed, unholy, violating; concepts 267,401,545 …   New thesaurus

  • sacrilegious — [sak΄rə lij′əs] adj. 1. that is or involves sacrilege 2. guilty of sacrilege sacrilegiously adv. sacrilegiousness n …   English World dictionary

  • sacrilegious — adj. sacrilegious to + inf. (it s sacrilegious to speak like that) * * * [ˌsækrɪ lɪdʒəs] sacrilegious to + inf. (it s sacrilegious to speak like that) …   Combinatory dictionary

  • sacrilegious — [[t]sæ̱krɪlɪ̱ʤəs[/t]] ADJ GRADED If someone s behaviour or actions are sacrilegious, they show great disrespect towards something holy or towards something that people think should be respected. A number of churches were sacked and sacrilegious… …   English dictionary

  • sacrilegious — /sækrəˈlɪdʒəs/ (say sakruh lijuhs) adjective 1. guilty of sacrilege: a sacrilegious person. 2. involving sacrilege: sacrilegious practices. {Latin sacrilegium sacrilege + ous} –sacrilegiously, adverb –sacrilegiousness, noun …  

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