impious

[im-pee-uhs, im-pahy-]

adjective

1. not pious or religious; lacking reverence for God, religious practices, etc.; irreligious; ungodly.

   Synonyms: irreverent, blasphemous, sacrilegious

2. disrespectful.

impious

/ ˈɪmpɪəs /

adjective

1. lacking piety or reverence for a god; ungodly

2. lacking respect; undutiful

Other Word Forms

• impiousness noun
• impiously adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of impious¹

1565–75; < Latin impius. See im- ², pious

Example Sentences

Having conferred upon Franco’s touchdown its name for 11 o’clock news viewers to embrace, I accept neither credit nor, should you hold the moniker to be impious, blame.”

From Washington Post

Once it felt impious just to say the word Auschwitz.

From The Guardian

I left singing the show’s catchy number “What’s the Buzz” with impious sarcasm.

From Los Angeles Times

But Harriet would have disliked those novels’ impious ruminations on motherhood, and probably also their authors.

From The New Yorker

Surviving a political smear campaign that implied he was an impious Muslim, Mr. Joko appears to have won a second term in this month’s elections.

From New York Times