Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Treated with irreverence or lacking due respect.
  • verb Simple past tense and past participle of profane.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective treated irreverently or sacrilegiously

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the past and past participle of the verb profane.

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Examples

  • I had not heard him speak of his little sister -- I could easily guess the reason -- he would run the risk of having her name profaned by careless lips.

    Hurricane Hurry William Henry Giles Kingston 1847

  • He had not conceived it possible that the breath of blame could approach such a character as Caroline's -- he was struck with surprise, and shocked, on hearing her name profaned by common scandal, and spoken of as the victim of a disappointed passion, the scorn of one of the most distinguished families in England.

    Tales and Novels — Volume 07 Maria Edgeworth 1808

  • They had by sin profaned the crown of their peculiarity, and lived in common with the uncircumcised nations, and so had forfeited the benefit of that peculiarity and must expect to fare never the better for it.

    Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume IV (Isaiah to Malachi) 1721

  • He exclaimed, "What wickedness have I committed! how have I sinned! how have I stolen God's honor, His name profaned with vile oaths, his sabbaths violated, his word despised! how godless have I lived, and run from Him!

    Journal of Jasper Danckaerts, 1679-1680 Jasper Danckaerts 1898

  • God is profaned, that is to say, is made less holy, by its application to unworthy objects and in unbecoming circumstances; profanity, because it has to do with the Holy Name, and not profanation, which looks to sacred things.

    Explanation of Catholic Morals A Concise, Reasoned, and Popular Exposition of Catholic Morals

  • An editorial in the Vatican's newspaper, l'Osservatore Romano, said the report had "profaned" the sacrament of Penance, also known as Reconciliation, in the name of "an ignoble scoop".

    Gee, the Vatican is only getting angry NOW? Suzanne 2007

  • Half a dozen more graves had been "profaned" over the weekend in the Black Road section of the cemetery, a place of paupers' graves where 70% of the tombs have been robbed, he said.

    Archive 2007-09-01 Christopher 2007

  • Half a dozen more graves had been "profaned" over the weekend in the Black Road section of the cemetery, a place of paupers' graves where 70% of the tombs have been robbed, he said.

    The Dead Ride Out Christopher 2007

  • I wondered what they did to our graveyards, how they 'profaned' the dead.

    Shaman's Crossing Hobb, Robin 2005

  • Clear and delicate at once as he is in the outlining of visible imagery, he is more finely scrupulous still in the noting of sounds; he conceives of noble sound as even moulding the human countenance to nobler types, and as something actually "profaned" by visible form or colour.

    Essays from 'The Guardian' Walter Pater 1866

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