verb
- Corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality.
- usage: "debauch the young people with wine and women"; "Socrates was accused of corrupting young men"; "Do school counselors subvert young children"; "corrupt the morals"
- synonyms: corrupt, pervert, subvert, demoralize, demoralise, debauch, debase, vitiate, deprave, misdirect
- Violate the sacred character of a place or language.
- usage: "desecrate a cemetery"; "violate the sanctity of the church"; "profane the name of God"
adjective
- Characterized by profanity or cursing.
- usage: "foul-mouthed and blasphemous"; "blue language"; "profane words"
- synonyms: blasphemous, blue
- Not concerned with or devoted to religion.
- usage: "sacred and profane music"; "secular drama"; "secular architecture, "children being brought up in an entirely profane environment"
- synonyms: secular
- Not holy because unconsecrated or impure or defiled.
- synonyms: unconsecrated, unsanctified
- Grossly irreverent toward what is held to be sacred.
- usage: "blasphemous rites of a witches' Sabbath"; "profane utterances against the Church"; "it is sacrilegious to enter with shoes on"
- synonyms: blasphemous, sacrilegious
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). profane. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/profane/definitions/1181416 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "profane" http://smartdefine.org/profane/definitions/1181416 (accessed September 20, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, profane, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/profane/definitions/1181416>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "profane" 23 October 2010. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/profane/definitions/1181416> |