defiled
Americanadjective
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made foul, dirty, or unclean; polluted or tainted.
Morally, those with defiled consciences are flying blind.
-
made impure for ceremonial or ritual use; desecrated.
To the left is a defiled shrine, with statues toppled and the symbol of an unrecognizable god destroyed.
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sullied, as a person’s reputation.
The lawyer added to his defiled reputation the other day by getting into a fistfight with a congressman.
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Archaic. deprived of one’s virginity or having one’s chastity violated.
verb
Other Word Forms
- undefiled adjective
Etymology
Origin of defiled
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
You’d never know the terrible mayhem that was visited on the seat of our national government, or the way our country and democracy were defiled that pitch-black day.
From Los Angeles Times
Nearly 20 years later, vandals dug up and defiled corpses.
From Los Angeles Times
In his resignation letter, he said the CCC had been "defiled", accusing the ruling Zanu-PF party of being behind the move - allegations it denied.
From BBC
And soldiers and volunteer medics recalled finding more than 30 defiled bodies of women and girls.
From New York Times
The Seleucids captured the holy Temple of Jerusalem and defiled it by erecting an altar to the Greek god Zeus inside.
From National Geographic
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.