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/proʊfˈeɪn/ Listen

adjective

Profane adj.

Not sacred or holy; not possessing peculiar sanctity; unconsecrated; hence, relating to matters other than sacred; secular; opposed to sacred, religious, or inspired; as, a profane place. "Profane authors." "The profane wreath was suspended before the shrine."

Unclean; impure; polluted; unholy. "Nothing is profane that serveth to holy things."

Treating sacred things with contempt, disrespect, irreverence, or undue familiarity; irreverent; impious. Hence, specifically; Irreverent in language; taking the name of God in vain; given to swearing; blasphemous; as, a profane person, word, oath, or tongue.

Synonyms: Secular; temporal; worldly; unsanctified; unhallowed; unholy; irreligious; irreverent; ungodly; wicked; godless; impious. See Impious.

verb

Profane v. t. (past & past part. profaned; pres. part. profaning)

To violate, as anything sacred; to treat with abuse, irreverence, obloquy, or contempt; to desecrate; to pollute; as, to profane the name of God; to profane the Scriptures, or the ordinance of God. "The priests in the temple profane the sabbath."

To put to a wrong or unworthy use; to make a base employment of; to debase; to abuse; to defile. "So idly to profane the precious time."

See images of 'Profane'

Etymology of 'Profane'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Profane" Quotes from Famous Books

... if King John surrendered himself, it was because of the ease and pleasures he enjoyed in London, and to be rid of cares. The name given to the Companies in the South was Raobadous (Ribauds)—the very name has come to us under the form of ribald, as indicative of all that is brutal, profane, ...

— Castles and Cave Dwellings of Europe • Sabine Baring-Gould

... reality they have but few. Ifound this on my journey through the 'Christian Mountain,' the Tr el' 'Abedn, where I visited many places and monasteries but little known. Ionly saw Bibles in Estrangelo character, which were of value, nowhere profane books; but the people are so fanatical, and watch their books so closely, that it is very difficult to get sight of anything; and one has to keep them in good humor. Unless after a long sojourn, and with the aid of bribery, there can never be any thought of buying anything from a monastic ...

— Chips from a German Workshop - Volume IV - Essays chiefly on the Science of Language • Max Muller

... turned the box-hedge when Danvers Carmichael gave us a taste of his nature and had his say with us in language free and skirting the profane. ...

— Nancy Stair - A Novel • Elinor Macartney Lane

... Fleur-de-Marie, with bitter despair, "I respected, I blessed by an innocent and pure child, I, formerly the object of everybody's scorn, I profane thus the sacred name of mother? Oh, never! miserable thing that I was to allow myself to be drawn away to ...

— Mysteries of Paris, V3 • Eugene Sue

... priest, encouraged by the mild tone of the silvan leader; "it were usage fit for no hound of good race—much less for a Christian—far less for a priest—and least of all for the Prior of the holy community of Jorvaulx. Here is a profane and drunken minstrel, called Allan-a-Dale—'nebulo quidam'—who has menaced me with corporal punishment—nay, with death itself, an I pay not down four hundred crowns of ransom, to the boot of all the treasure he hath already robbed ...

— Ivanhoe - A Romance • Walter Scott

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