blas·phe·my

(blăs′fə-mē)

n. pl. blas·phe·mies

a. Contemptuous or profane speech or action concerning God or a sacred entity.

b. An instance of this.

a. Irreverent or impious action or expression in regard to something considered inviolable or sacrosanct.

b. An instance of this.

[Middle English blasfemie, from Late Latin blasphēmia, from Greek blasphēmiā, from blasphēmein, to blaspheme; see blaspheme.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

blasphemy

(ˈblæsfɪmɪ)

n, pl -mies

1. (Ecclesiastical Terms) blasphemous behaviour or language

2. (Law) law Also called: blasphemous libel the crime committed if a person insults, offends, or vilifies the deity, Christ, or the Christian religion

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

blas•phe•my

(ˈblæs fə mi)

n., pl. -mies.

1. impious utterance or action concerning God or sacred things.

2. an act of cursing or reviling God.

[1175–1225; Middle English < Late Latin < Greek]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	blasphemy - blasphemous language (expressing disrespect for God or for something sacred) discourtesy, disrespect - an expression of lack of respect profanity - vulgar or irreverent speech or action
	2.	blasphemy - blasphemous behavior; the act of depriving something of its sacred character; "desecration of the Holy Sabbath" desecration, profanation, sacrilege irreverence, violation - a disrespectful act

blasphemy

noun irreverence, swearing, cursing, indignity (to God), disrespect, desecration, sacrilege, profanity, impiety, profanation, execration, profaneness, impiousness She described the killings as a blasphemy before God.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

blasphemy

noun

1. An act of disrespect or impiety toward something regarded as sacred:

desecration, profanation, sacrilege, violation.

2. A profane or obscene term:

curse, epithet, expletive, oath, swearword.

Informal: cuss.

Translations

Blasphemie

bestemmia blasfemia

богохульство

blasphemy

[ˈblæsfɪmɪ] N → blasfemia f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

blasphemy

[ˈblæsfəmi] n → blasphème m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

blasphemy

n → Blasphemie f; (Rel also) → (Gottes)lästerung f; (= words also) → Schmähung f (geh)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

blasphemy

[ˈblæsfɪmɪ] n → bestemmia

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

But we may not take up the third sword, which is Mahomet's sword, or like unto it; that is, to propagate religion by wars, or by sanguinary persecutions to force consciences; except it be in cases of overt scandal, blasphemy, or intermixture of practice against the state; much less to nourish seditions; to authorize conspiracies and rebellions; to put the sword into the people's hands; and the like; tending to the subversion of all government, which is the ordinance of God.

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The headstones were fallen and broken across; brambles overran the ground; the fence was mostly gone, and cows and pigs wandered there at will; the place was a dishonor to the living, a calumny on the dead, a blasphemy against God.

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As for his notions of literature, I simply accepted them with the feeling that any question of them would have been little better than blasphemy.

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Laughter and singing in particular seemed to her like a blasphemy, in face of her sorrow.

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Each word was a blasphemy, and there were many words.

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Suddenly we heard a yelp and a volley of furious blasphemy from the companion hatchway, and the deformed man with the black face came up hurriedly.

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"There is an ancient legend that once a red man returned from the banks of the Lost Sea of Korus, returned from the Valley Dor, back through the mysterious River Iss, and the legend has it that he narrated a fearful blasphemy of horrid brutes that inhabited a valley of wondrous loveliness, brutes that pounced upon each Barsoomian as he terminated his pilgrimage and devoured him upon the banks of the Lost Sea where he had looked to find love and peace and happiness; but the ancients killed the blasphemer, as tradition has ordained that any shall be killed who return from the bosom of the River of Mystery.

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Once blasphemy against God was the greatest blasphemy; but God died, and therewith also those blasphemers.

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Then the worst came when I, being out of my mind with hunger and loss of my boys, and grief to see my husband and my little maids in rags and misery and despair, uttered a deep blasphemy -- oh!

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His presence made it both the field of blood and of blasphemy. From the rising till the going down of the sun, he was cursing, raving, cutting, and slashing among the slaves of the field, in the most frightful manner.

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"She distils nothing of the kind, vile rabble," said Don Quixote, burning with rage, "nothing of the kind, I say, only ambergris and civet in cotton; nor is she one-eyed or humpbacked, but straighter than a Guadarrama spindle: but ye must pay for the blasphemy ye have uttered against beauty like that of my lady."

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Daylight had the feeling that a healthy man-oath would be a deadly offence to his ears, a sacrilege and a blasphemy.

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