Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Wicked; immoral.
  • adjective Not hallowed or consecrated.
  • adjective Outrageous.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not holy.
  • Impious; wicked.
  • Synonyms Unhallowed, unsanctified.
  • Profane, ungodly.
  • noun pl. unholies (-liz). That which is unholy.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Not holy; unhallowed; not consecrated; hence, profane; wicked; impious.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Something that is evil, impure, or otherwise perverted.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective extremely evil or cruel; expressive of cruelty or befitting hell
  • adjective not hallowed or consecrated
  • adjective having committed unrighteous acts

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Makes for what I call the unholy trinity of Mammon which teaches that we are not our brother's keeper.

    O brother Billy Graham, where art thou? 2006

  • The joy is in unholy worship of a fetish, the pain that there is no joy also deference to a fetish.

    The Kempton-Wace Letters 2010

  • Daniel refused to participate in unholy things in his country and the king was so moved by him that he declared that only the one true God would be served.

    Archive 2008-11-01 2008

  • Daniel refused to participate in unholy things in his country and the king was so moved by him that he declared that only the one true God would be served.

    The Citizenship and Kingdom of the Home 2008

  • The car was like lightning beneath the curve of his body, electricity and steam pumping in unholy unison to create a movement that was never meant for mortal men.

    365 tomorrows » 2007 » January : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day 2007

  • She looked up to see an expression of unholy glee on Rons face.

    The Messenger Jan Burke 2008

  • Many people, myself included, were raised on weekday suppers of calves 'liver and onions (I used to bathe mine in unholy gobs of ketchup), and in my experience, venison liver is the least-neglected organ meat among hunters.

    How to Cook Your Gut Pile 2004

  • Botha was highly critical of Mangope's move to call in the AVF, and he questioned the motives behind what he called their unholy alliance.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1997

  • As no external privileges, or badge of discipleship, will shield the unholy from the wrath of God, so neither will the want of them shut out from the kingdom of heaven such as have experienced without them that change of heart which the seals of God's covenant were designed to mark.

    Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible 1871

  • It reflected a so-called unholy alliance between al Qaeda, the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the Taliban in Pakistan, the last of which had become a major concern to Islamabad.

    THE PROMISE JONATHAN ALTER 2010

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