Library / English Dictionary

BLASPHEMY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Blasphemous behavior; the act of depriving something of its sacred character

Example:

desecration of the Holy Sabbath

Synonyms:

blasphemy; desecration; profanation; sacrilege

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("blasphemy" is a kind of...):

irreverence; violation (a disrespectful act)

Derivation:

blasphemous (grossly irreverent toward what is held to be sacred)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Blasphemous language (expressing disrespect for God or for something sacred)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("blasphemy" is a kind of...):

discourtesy; disrespect (an expression of lack of respect)

profanity (vulgar or irreverent speech or action)

Derivation:

blasphemous (characterized by profanity or cursing)

Credits

 Context examples: 

So Martin did not scorch that, and eased down on his muscular tension, though nervous tension rose higher than ever, and he listened sympathetically to the other's blasphemies as he toiled and suffered over the beautiful things that women wear when they do not have to do their own laundrying.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Wolf Larsen did not laugh, though his grey eyes lighted with a slight glint of amusement; and in that moment, having stepped forward quite close to him, I received my first impression of the man himself, of the man as apart from his body, and from the torrent of blasphemy I had heard him spew forth.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He saw himself, stripped to the waist, with naked fists, fighting his great fight with Liverpool Red in the forecastle of the Susquehanna; and he saw the bloody deck of the John Rogers, that gray morning of attempted mutiny, the mate kicking in death- throes on the main-hatch, the revolver in the old man's hand spitting fire and smoke, the men with passion-wrenched faces, of brutes screaming vile blasphemies and falling about him—and then he returned to the central scene, calm and clean in the steadfast light, where Ruth sat and talked with him amid books and paintings; and he saw the grand piano upon which she would later play to him; and he heard the echoes of his own selected and correct words, But then, may I not be peculiarly constituted to write?

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)