Profane Meaning
/pɹəˈfeɪn/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjUnclean; ritually impure; unholy, desecrating a holy place or thing.
adjNot sacred or holy, unconsecrated; relating to non-religious matters, secular.
Sentence Examples
Mixing the profane with the divine was Ginsberg's shtick.
The speaker was criticized for using profane language during the interview.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Vandals entered the ancient church to ____ the altar by spray-painting graffiti on it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The comedian's ____ language shocked some audience members who had not expected such crude humor.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French prophane, from Latin profānus (“not religious, unclean”), from pro- (“instead of”) + fānum (“temple”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Nothing is profane that serveth to the use of holy things."
— 1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5):
"A sonnet in praise of Rome was accepted as the effusion of genius and gratitude; and after the whole procession had visited the Vatican, the profane wreath was suspended before the shrine."
— 1781, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume II, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC:
"The sacred is the emotional force which connects the part to the whole; the profane or the secular is that which has been broken off from, or has fallen off, its emotional bond to the universe."
— 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 102:
"the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane"
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 1:9:
"When asked to explain why he became a landlord, he told the Archbishop of York it was so he could close the pub on Sundays, and suppress the profane language and singing that came through the bar windows."
— 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 102:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Vandals entered the ancient church to ____ the altar by spray-painting graffiti on it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The comedian's ____ language shocked some audience members who had not expected such crude humor.