defiled 1 of 2

adjective

as in contaminated

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defiled

2 of 2

verb

past tense of defile
1
as in polluted
to make unfit for use by the addition of something harmful or undesirable supplies of meat that had been defiled by maggots

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2
as in violated
to treat (a sacred place or object) shamefully or with great disrespect art conservators were careful not to do anything that might defile the holy relic

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of defiled
Verb
The Tesla’s desecration follows a vandalism spree in Queens that saw religious centers, homes and vehicles defiled with swastikas and antisemitic slogans last month. — Barry Williams, New York Daily News, 26 June 2026 And earlier this month, Russia prompted outrage by installing an exhibit that some commentators said defiled the Katyn Memorial, the site of the mass execution of Polish POWs by the Soviets in 1940. — Nathan Hodge, CNN Money, 26 Apr. 2026 Among the false claims Energy Transfer alleged Greenpeace had spread was that the energy company defiled Native American cultural boundaries. — Mark Curriden, Dallas Morning News, 13 Mar. 2026 Militia members had ransacked and defiled the house. — Yousra Elbagir, Time, 25 Feb. 2026 As a state legislator, Lincoln stood against slave catchers backed by the federal government who defiled our state’s laws and terrorized our most vulnerable. — Chicago Tribune, 16 Feb. 2026 The work of love, and the question of what happens when love is absent or defiled, became a central preoccupation. — Literary Hub, 15 Jan. 2026 Their beautiful sanctuary has been defiled, and Emily is fired. — Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2025 After occupying forces defiled the temple, a small army led by Judah the Maccabee liberated the sanctuary. — Jose R. Gonzalez, AZCentral.com, 10 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defiled
  1. contaminated
  2. polluted
  3. violated
  4. tainted
  5. poisoned
  6. desecrated
  7. impure
  8. unclean
Adjective
  • People cannot become infected by swallowing contaminated water.
    — Brittany Miller, FOXNews.com, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Consumers who may have purchased contaminated products have been advised by the FDA to either throw them away or return them for a refund at the place of purchase.
    — Rebecca Schneid, Time, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of contaminated
Verb
  • Our state has thousands of sites already polluted with toxic chemicals and other pollutants, and those projects affect air quality, safe drinking water and community health for millions of Californians.
    — Shannon Olivieri Hovis, Mercury News, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Greenpeace Germany warned that oil has already polluted stretches of coastline and damaged the area's fragile ecosystem.
    — Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of polluted
Verb
  • The core of the Teamsters’ petition against the DMV is the claim that regulators violated the California Administrative Procedure Act by failing to complete an extensive study of the economic and practical impact of the policy change.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Meta also lost a separate social-media case brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, after a court found that the company violated the state's child-safety laws and ordered it to pay over $900 million in penalties.
    — Sawdah Bhaimiya, CNBC, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of violated
Adjective
  • One example is museums’ wall labels now mentioning tainted or dubious provenance.
    — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 28 Aug. 2026
  • The group turned its attention to Samoa in July 2018, when two young children died after being given a tainted MMR vaccine that had been improperly prepared.
    — Ali Swenson, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of tainted
Verb
  • Glutathione is processed in sterile compounding pharmacies, and there have been cases of people getting poisoned due to contamination at these facilities, Sack said.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 23 Aug. 2026
  • Patterson was accused of pretending to eat the same portion, and of feigning illness in an elaborate ruse to suggest she’d also been poisoned.
    — Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of poisoned
Verb
  • The measure adds new grounds to Argentina’s immigration law, allowing authorities to bar, deport and revoke visas of people found to have promoted hatred against Argentines in spoken or written statements or who have desecrated national symbols.
    — Isabel Debre, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2026
  • Those are the kinds of things that can't be broken into or taken away or desecrated.
    — Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 6 June 2026
Definition of desecrated
Adjective
  • Wise’s wistful songwriting is retained, but completely missing is his intentionally impure palette.
    — Billie Bugara, Pitchfork, 7 Mar. 2026
  • Kanto practitioners believe that women cannot participate because, according to Japan's Shinto religion, women's blood from menstruation and childbirth is considered impure for the purpose of religious rituals.
    — Anthony Kuhn, NPR, 3 Nov. 2025
Definition of impure
Adjective
  • This is more than a body odor problem — unclean clothes and linens are ripe feeding grounds for infectious bacteria.
    — Rahul Rao, Space.com, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Travelers may encounter issues like unclean accommodations and higher flight cancellation rates.
    — Christopher Elliott, USA Today, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of unclean

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Cite this Entry

“Defiled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defiled. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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