blasphemy means an act of irreverence or contempt toward a god or toward something considered sacred; an impious act, utterance, view, etc. It carries an Arena rating of 1626, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, blasphemy ranks #936 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #1,477 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #2,323 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #3,706 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
blasphemy is pronounced /ˈblæs.fə.mi/.
Why “blasphemy” is a great word
The act or offense of speaking irreverently about God or sacred things; profane or contemptuous speech or action concerning a deity or anything held inviolable. From Middle English *blasfemie*, from Old French *blasfemie*, from Ecclesiastical Latin *blasphēmia*, from Ancient Greek βλασφημία (*blasphēmía*, "profane or slanderous speech"), from βλασφημέω (*blasphēméō*, "to slander, to speak profanely"). Unlike sacrilege, which violates a physical altar, or profanity, the casual vulgarity of the marketplace, blasphemy is a crime of the tongue and the mind, a specific indictment of contempt aimed at the divine. It is the muttered curse in a darkened church, the deliberate denial shouted into a gale, the quiet, heretical thought that blooms in the privacy of doubt—the moment reverence ruptures, and something holy recoils not from violence, but from voice.
Etymology
From Middle English blasfemie, from Old French blasfemie, from Ecclesiastical Latin blasphēmia, from Ancient Greek βλασφημία (blasphēmía, “profanity”), from βλασφημέω (blasphēméō, “to slander”). Displaced native Old English tāl.
noun
- An act of irreverence or contempt toward a god or toward something considered sacred; an impious act, utterance, view, etc.e.g.“That imam said that drawing the prophet Muhammad was a form of blasphemy.”
- An act of irreverence towards anything considered inviolable; the act of disregarding a convention.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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