Adjacent Words

Unholy definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

UNHO'LY, a.
1. Not holy; not renewed and sanctified. 2 Timothy 3.
2. Profane; not hallowed; not consecrated; common. Hebrews 10.
3. Impious; wicked.
4. Not ceremonially purified. Leviticus 10.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: not hallowed or consecrated [syn: unholy, unhallowed] [ant: holy]
2: extremely evil or cruel; expressive of cruelty or befitting hell; "something demonic in him--something that could be cruel"; "fires lit up a diabolic scene"; "diabolical sorcerers under the influence of devils"; "a fiendish despot"; "hellish torture"; "infernal instruments of war"; "satanic cruelty"; "unholy grimaces" [syn: demonic, diabolic, diabolical, fiendish, hellish, infernal, satanic, unholy]
3: having committed unrighteous acts; "a sinful person" [syn: sinful, unholy, wicked]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: before 12th century 1. showing disregard for what is holy ; wicked 2. deserving of censure <an unholy alliance> 3. very unpleasant ; god-awful <an unholy mess> • unholiness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. (unholier, unholiest) 1 impious, profane, wicked. 2 colloq. dreadful, outrageous (made an unholy row about it). 3 not holy. Derivatives: unholiness n. Etymology: OE unhalig (as UN-(1), HOLY)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Unholy Un*ho"ly, a. Not holy; unhallowed; not consecrated; hence, profane; wicked; impious. -- Un*ho"li*ly, adv. -- Un*ho"li*ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. You use unholy to emphasize how unreasonable or unpleasant you think something is. She protested that it wasn't traditional jazz at all, but an unholy row... The economy is still an unholy mess. = horrendous ADJ: ADJ n [emphasis] 2. If you refer to two or more people or groups working together as an unholy alliance, you mean that this arrangement is unusual because the people usually oppose each other. If the government does fall it will be because of this unholy alliance between the far right and the left... Westerners charged that the party was run by an unholy coalition between North and South. ADJ: ADJ n [disapproval] 3. If you describe something as unholy, you mean that it is wicked or bad. 'This ought to be fun,' he told Alex, eyes gleaming with an almost unholy relish... ADJ: usu ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Unhallowed, unsanctified, profane, ungodly. 2. Undevout, irreligious, ungodly, impious, irreverent, wicked, sinful, profane, evil.

Moby Thesaurus

amiss, barbarous, blamable, blameful, censurable, culpable, fleshly, godless, guilty, impious, irreligious, irreverent, mundane, nonsacred, profane, reprehensible, reprobate, secular, sinful, temporal, un-Christly, unangelic, unblessed, unchristian, uncivilized, unconscionable, ungodly, unhallowed, unregenerate, unrighteous, unsacred, unsaintly, unsanctified, wicked, worldly