sacrilegious

[ sak-ruh-lij-uh s, -lee-juh s ]
/ ˌsæk rəˈlɪdʒ əs, -ˈli dʒəs /

adjective

pertaining to or involving sacrilege: sacrilegious practices.
guilty of sacrilege: a sacrilegious person.

Origin of sacrilegious

1400–50; late Middle English sacrilegiose; see sacrilege, -ous

pronunciation note for sacrilegious

The almost universal pronunciation of sacrilegious as [sak-ruh-lij-uh s] /ˌsæk rəˈlɪdʒ əs/ is the result of folk etymology—modifying the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word so that it conforms to a more familiar one—in this case religious. Etymologically, sacrilegious has no direct relationship to religious. The historical pronunciation [sak-ruh-lee-juh s] /ˌsæk rəˈli dʒəs/ occurs in American English, though not in British English, and criticism of the newer pronunciation has almost disappeared.

OTHER WORDS FROM sacrilegious

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH sacrilegious

irreligious sacrilegious unreligious religious sacrilegious sacrosanct

Example sentences from the Web for sacrilegiously

British Dictionary definitions for sacrilegiously

sacrilegious
/ (ˌsækrɪˈlɪdʒəs) /

adjective

of, relating to, or involving sacrilege; impious
guilty of sacrilege

Derived forms of sacrilegious

sacrilegiously, adverb sacrilegiousness, noun