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
This game must have seemed profane to the Greeks, or even impious.
—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
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
Bragadin’s cash was funding heavy gambling and elaborate, impious scenes of seduction.
—Clare Bucknell, Harper’s Magazine , 26 Oct. 2022
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
This game must have seemed profane to the Greeks, or even impious.
—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
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
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
-
Alfie, who’s either being willfully obtuse or radically uncompromising, sees nothing sacrilegious in Wilde’s one-act tragedy.—
Charles McNulty,
Los Angeles Times,
21 May 2025
-
Surely, there’s something utterly sacrilegious about laughing hysterically at actors giving God the middle finger.—
Michael James Rocha,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
12 June 2025
Adjective
-
In Europe, the painting was received as a blasphemous shock.—
Alexandra Schwartz,
New Yorker,
11 July 2025
-
There’s a quiet and, some might argue, blasphemous revolution happening.—
Trinity Francis,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2025
Adjective
-
The secular shift is evident in the slope of the monthly cloud model, which points higher looking out to mid-2027.—
Katie Stockton,
CNBC,
28 July 2025
-
The operating environment remains challenging for all ad sellers, particularly legacy companies coping with the secular decline of linear TV.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
22 July 2025
Adjective
-
Kealoha was an irreverent rascal on set Everyone on the panel — and several other Lilo & Stitch team members in behind-the-scenes footage — agreed that Kealoha was a force to be reckoned with on set.—
Sharareh Drury,
People.com,
26 July 2025
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In the meantime, more questions could arise about the future of other irreverent late-night talk shows in light of its fate.—
Robert Birsel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Impious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impious. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.
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