profane

CEFRC1

/pɹəˈfeɪn/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Showing disrespect toward religion or sacred things.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Not sacred or holy, unconsecrated; relating to non-religious matters, secular.

Examples

  • Mixing the profane with the divine was Ginsberg's shtick.

  • The speaker was criticized for using profane language during the interview.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Treating sacred things with contempt, disrespect, irreverence, or scorn; blasphemous, impious.

  2. Unclean; ritually impure; unholy, desecrating a holy place or thing.

  3. Irreverent in language; taking the name of God in vain.

More examples

In context

  • One should not profane the name of God.

  • a profane person, word, oath, or tongue

  • profane authors

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Vandals entered the ancient church to blank the altar by spray-painting graffiti on it.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Middle French prophane, from Latin profānus (“not religious, unclean”), from pro- (“instead of”) + fānum (“temple”).