Word
blasphemy
Phoneticsblas·phe·my
US/ˈbɫæsfəmi/
UK/blˈɑːsfəmi/
Definitions
01religious disrespect
n. saying or doing something that is very disrespectful to a god or a religion.
n. the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for a deity or sacred things. Often used in legal or theological contexts.
“In some historical periods, writing books that questioned the church was punished as blasphemy.”
“The medieval scholar was accused of blasphemy after he published a treatise that challenged the established interpretation of the holy texts.”
Formal
Usage
Uncountable when referring to the concept; countable when referring to specific acts or statements.
Teaching tip
While primarily a religious term, it is often used figuratively in modern English to describe an attack on any highly respected idea.
Synonyms
02disrespecting a convention
n. doing something that goes against a rule or idea that most people respect very much.
n. an act of disregarding or showing contempt for a standard, convention, or something considered inviolable within a specific community.
“For a traditional Italian chef, putting pineapple on pizza is a form of blasphemy.”
“To the purists in the audience, the director's decision to set the Shakespearean play in a modern office was nothing short of blasphemy.”
Humorous · Informal
Usage
Often used with the preposition 'to' or 'against'.
Teaching tip
In this sense, the word is usually hyperbolic and used to express strong personal or professional disapproval rather than literal religious offense.
Real-World Examples
“Ashrafi claimed the blasphemy laws actually "save lives", stopping people taking matters into their own hands.” Etymology
From Middle English blasfemie, from Old French blasfemie, from Ecclesiastical Latin blasphēmia, from Ancient Greek βλασφημία (blasphēmía, “profanity”), from βλασφημέω (blasphēméō, “to slander”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/blasphemy