as in atheistical
not showing proper reverence for the holy or sacred
an impious act that horrified their pious mother
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Recent Examples of impious
This game must have seemed profane to the Greeks, or even impious.
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Simone Weil, Harper's Magazine, 22 May 2024
Both narratives, private and public, differently restrict our access, so the ideal historian will need great tact and an impious curiosity.
—James Wood, The New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2023
Sarah Thompson, the MFA’s curator of Japanese Art, and curatorial assistant Kendall DeBoer, who put the show’s more than 350 works together, deserve credit for being impious, not reverent.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Mar. 2023
Some seem startlingly impious.
—Lidija Haas, Harper's Magazine, 18 Aug. 2020
To cut short these death throes is both impious (for those who believe) and immoral (for anyone).
—Michel Houellebecq, Harper’s Magazine , 6 Jan. 2023
Bragadin’s cash was funding heavy gambling and elaborate, impious scenes of seduction.
—Clare Bucknell, Harper’s Magazine , 26 Oct. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impious
Adjective
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The cartoon images were deeply offensive to many Muslims, who viewed them as sacrilegious.David Faris, Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2024
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Grills are about elemental things—wood, fire, meat—adding Wi-Fi to that seems almost sacrilegious.Scott Gilbertson, WIRED, 13 Sep. 2020
Adjective
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Rushdie’s fourth fictional novel ran into a global controversy shortly after its publication in September 1988, as some Muslims saw passages about Prophet Muhammad as blasphemous.Reuters, NBC News, 8 Nov. 2024
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Many Muslims consider depictions of prophets to be blasphemous.Reuters, CNN, 4 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Explore Hendersonville 13 of 18 Cary, North Carolina A testament to the city’s enthusiasm for the holidays, each year, Cary doubles its number of oversize ornaments—these decorations champion its diverse population, with nods to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and secular celebrations.Abigail Wilt, Southern Living, 23 Nov. 2024
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Hals, too, painted the faces of a new secular élite that sought to flatter itself with the permanence of oil painting; Hals, too, caught the abundance as well as the wobbling precarity of his clients’ world, the sense that all this could tumble down tomorrow.Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Paul Smith, on the other hand, is known for his irreverent creativity—bold stripes, playful details, and a knack for turning the unexpected into the extraordinary.Jeetendr Sehdev, Forbes, 21 Nov. 2024
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Deadline told you first that Lopez was set to continue her mass-appealing movie streak with the streamer on this irreverent comedy project that 2x Ted Lasso Emmy winning Goldstein co-wrote with Joe Kelly.Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 20 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near impious
Cite this Entry
“Impious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impious. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
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