Word
unholy
Phoneticsun·holy
US/ənˈhoʊɫi/
UK/ʌnhˈəʊli/
Definitions
01evil or immoral
adj. evil, wicked, or against religious rules.
adj. not holy; characterized by a lack of religious or moral sanctity; wicked or sinful.
“The villain in the story made an unholy pact with a demon to gain power.”
“The investigation revealed an unholy alliance between the corrupt officials and the local criminal syndicate.”
Literary
02extreme or unpleasant
adj. used to describe something that is extreme, shocking, or a very bad combination.
adj. dreadful, excessive, or unnatural; often used to describe an unpleasant combination of elements or an unreasonable time.
“The baby woke up at the unholy hour of four in the morning.”
“The kitchen was filled with an unholy mess of flour, broken eggs, and spilled milk after the children tried to bake a cake.”
Informal · Humorous
Usage
Often used in the fixed phrase 'unholy hour' to mean very early in the morning.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English unholi, unhaliȝ, from Old English unhāliġ, from Proto-Germanic *unhailagaz, equivalent to un- + holy. Cognate with Scots unhaly, Dutch onheilig, German Low German unhillig, German unheilig, Danish uhellig, Swedish ohelig.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/unholy