adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/sæk.ɹəˈlɪd͡ʒ.əs/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/sæk.ɹəˈlɪd͡ʒ.əs/
General-American:/sæk.ɹəˈlid͡ʒəs/
rhymes with -ɪdʒəs
rhymes with -iːdʒəs
CMU ARPABET:S AE2 K R AH0 L EH1 JH IH0 S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Committing sacrilege; acting or speaking very disrespectfully toward what is held to be sacred.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adjective satellite
Meaning 2
grossly irreverent toward what is held to be sacred
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
blasphemous rites of a witches' Sabbath
profane utterances against the Church
it is sacrilegious to enter with shoes on
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: blasphemous, profane
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Compare sacrilege, Latin sacrilegus. From Latin sacer + legō (“steal something sacred”).
Across languages
Translations
23 source translations are retained for this English entry.
