Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- Impious: abominable; very shocking to the general sense of justice or religion.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Unspeakable ,appalling .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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It just got better and better as each story added new dots to connect and a vast world of eldritch, foetid, blasphemous, nefandous, sepulchral imagination seemed to be slowly revealing itself.
PVS and HPL Pete Von Sholly 2009
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It just got better and better as each story added new dots to connect and a vast world of eldritch, foetid, blasphemous, nefandous, sepulchral imagination seemed to be slowly revealing itself.
Archive 2009-05-01 Pete Von Sholly 2009
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He had been brought very close to that immane and nefandous
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 62, December, 1862 Various
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For my part, I consider Witchcraft the most nefandous high treason against the Majesty on High!
Dulcibel A Tale of Old Salem Henry Peterson 1882
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He had been brought very close to that immane and nefandous
Pages from an Old Volume of Life; a collection of essays, 1857-1881 Oliver Wendell Holmes 1851
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He had been brought very close to that immane and nefandous
Complete Project Gutenberg Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Works Oliver Wendell Holmes 1851
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He represented the Primitive Christians as the vilest of men, and as if at their Meetings they did commit the most nefandous Villanies that ever were known; and that not only Innocent, but Eminently Pious
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Suppose a Man to be suspected for Murder, or for committing a Rape, or the like nefandous Wickedness, if he does freely confess the Accusation, that's ground enough to Condemn him.
reesetee commented on the word nefandous
Unspeakable.
November 28, 2007
sionnach commented on the word nefandous
Well, just to draw a little of the fire away from the hideous nemaline word, might I say this one is no great shakes either. Though if one is looking for words ending in "dous" (a rare commodity, according to some, though I'm not buying it myself), I guess it's got that going for it.
November 29, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word nefandous
Hey, at least it's not all from the middle of the alphabet!
November 29, 2007
reesetee commented on the word nefandous
I agree, though. This one's much worse than nemaline.
And yet I've added both of them to my lists. :-D
November 29, 2007
eg commented on the word nefandous
obsolete?
December 11, 2008
sionnach commented on the word nefandous
See tacenda. Also infandous.
And for God's sake, keep the pudenda off the agenda!
December 11, 2008
knitandpurl commented on the word nefandous
"Many of the persons who held such opinions were, of course, guilty of the most nefandous conduct themselves, and yet saw no paradox in holding such views because they were not hypocrites themselves—they took no moral stances and lived by none."
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, p 191 of the Spectra trade paperback
May 22, 2016
isnotnull commented on the word nefandous
As noted in Lurking in Lovecraft by laiane, an obsolete variation of nefandous is used by H.P. Lovecraft in "The Dreams in the Witch House." Lovecraft actually uses the word infandous which, while obsolete, is closer to the Latin infandus. I find the Oxford English Dictionary definition of nefandous to be more inclusive and quote it as follows:
February 16, 2024