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
The only true dictionary is the lost one, the dictionary of the language that perished when the impious tower was built: the original language, God’s language.
—
Mariana Dimópulos, Harpers Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025
This game must have seemed profane to the Greeks, or even impious.
—Simone Weil, Harper's Magazine, 2 July 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
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
Mariana Dimópulos, Harpers Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025
This game must have seemed profane to the Greeks, or even impious.
—Simone Weil, Harper's Magazine, 2 July 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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impious
Adjective
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But how can considering sincere questions of faith and meaning within a place of worship be sacrilegious or desperate?—
Jordan King,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Oct. 2025
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Think that's wild and somehow sacrilegious?—
Marcus K. Dowling,
Nashville Tennessean,
27 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Stowe is known mainly for Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel profoundly informed by her Christian nationalist belief that the United States was failing in its mission to become a New Canaan, precisely because of the blasphemous practice of slavery.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Oct. 2025
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To say that Judge does not have a signature October moment is blasphemous and far from the truth.—
Andrew Wright,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Scheeres’s work also inspired me to research the troubled teen industry, the hidden arm of America’s prison industrial complex, a largely unregulated network of religious and secular therapeutic boarding schools, wilderness programs, private youth programs, and drug rehabilitation centers.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Oct. 2025
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The movie subsequently gave its monsters a more secular origin story, the spawn of science run amok rather than some malevolent force of evil.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Susan sounded irreverent, not official.—
NPR,
NPR,
18 Oct. 2025
-
Season 27 of the beloved series is a ratings bonanza for Comedy Central, as well as a creative triumph for its showrunners, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and a delight for fans of irreverent topical satire.—
Kevin Dolak,
HollywoodReporter,
17 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Impious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impious. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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