Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Lack of reverence or due respect.
  • noun A disrespectful act or remark.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The quality of being irreverent; lack of reverence or veneration; lack of due regard to the authority and character of a superior or an elder; a manifestation of irreverent feeling.
  • noun Synonyms Disrespect, incivility, discourtesy, rudeness (all toward elders or superiors).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The state or quality of being irreverent; lack of proper reverence; disregard of the authority and character of a superior.

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

  • noun The state or quality of being irreverent; want of proper reverence; disregard of the authority and character of a superior.

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

  • noun an irreverent mental attitude
  • noun a disrespectful act

Etymologies

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Examples

  • And that's also probably what makes people uncomfortable about what they call your irreverence - possibly they like to cultivate the belief that they "get" his world perfectly.

    Ferule & Fescue Flavia 2006

  • I was raised not to indulge in irreverence to God.

    Bowing to bigots « BuzzMachine 2006

  • There is undeniably a certain irreverence to the column.

    Splitting newsrooms and hairs « BuzzMachine 2005

  • Kahlan speculated that their irreverence was their way of reminding Richard that he had freed them and that they served only by choice.

    Soul of the Fire Goodkind, Terry 1999

  • Some years ago — the fifth year of the siege, actually — there was a scholic from the Twenty-sixth Century, a chubby, irreverent Asian with the unusual name of Bruster Lin — and even though Bruster Lin was the brightest and most insightful scholar amongst us, his irreverence was his undoing.

    Ilium Simmons, Dan 1981

  • So Mr. Beecher has been censured for irreverence, when what was called his irreverence has seemed to us but the tenderness engendered of close connection.

    The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 62, December, 1862 Various

  • Heine can never lose the sharpness of his bite, for his irreverence is the eternal irreverence of the soul that neither man nor

    Suspended Judgments Essays on Books and Sensations John Cowper Powys 1917

  • For ages, any expression of so-called irreverence from their lips has been sin and crime.

    The American Claimant Mark Twain 1872

  • Not only are they pushing the boundaries of irreverence, which is hilarious, but it is grounded in this humanity, this pain, this pathos, that goes beyond what we think of as comedy.

    USATODAY.com News 2011

  • (Bush and Dr Cheney legacy), not just lock it up in cupboards. another inspiration for my writing is this innovative musician and activist fighting racism, Islamo-phobia and injustice head on through his "Rhythm and beats". although his documentaries and DIY cook book music genre are termed irreverence bordering treason against queen and country and glorifying terrorism among the Pakistani and Muslim youth of Britain, But it is merely exposing the truth about the sentiments of equality, discrimination, integration and assimilation.

    Pak Tea House 2009

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