defilements

plural of defilement
1
as in corruptions
an act of great disrespect shown to God or to sacred ideas, people, or things for two centuries the Christian monasteries in England suffered defilements at the hands of Viking invaders

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2
as in contaminants
something that is or that makes impure souvenir shops, observation towers, and other tacky defilements on Civil War battlefields that should be considered hallowed ground

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for defilements
Noun
  • Parents are demanding the chance to opt out of apps and learning platforms, and others, including Cherkin, are suing ed tech companies and publishers, accusing them of data privacy violations and false advertising.
    Linda Jacobson, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Parking violations are being decriminalized, meaning drivers who fail to pay will receive an administrative ticket.
    Ubah Ali, CBS News, 26 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • Some food dyes made from natural ingredients can contain contaminants and may pose their own health risks, such as diabetes.
    Stephanie Armour, CBS News, 25 Aug. 2026
  • In Keyport, New Jersey, a community's residents gathered to learn more about an investigation into contaminants found at an industrial park and neighboring former landfill and whether the contaminants could be affecting their air and water.
    Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • Facilities would have to be on land zoned for heavy industrial use and could not be located near disadvantaged communities or populations sensitive to pollutants, such as hospitals, schools and nursing homes.
    Naomi Taxay, Sacbee.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Ancient rock art at Murujuga, or the Burrup Peninsula, in Western Australia, has seen much larger damaged than previously anticipated due to industrial pollutants found in air emissions.
    Francesca Aton, ARTnews.com, 26 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • In one of the heaviest contaminations of TCE and PCE documented, thousands of soldiers and their families were exposed to the solvents at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune from 1953 to 1987.
    WUFT News, Miami Herald, 29 July 2026
  • And the Food and Drug Administration is also investigating contaminations that may be tied to a different outbreak.
    Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 24 July 2026
Noun
  • Companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi—who own Dasani and Aquafina, respectively—take tap water, treat it (which typically means removing some minerals deemed impurities), bottle it, and sell it at a markup.
    Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 27 Aug. 2026
  • That concentrate requires further refining to remove impurities.
    Matthew Kayser, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026
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Cite this Entry

“Defilements.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defilements. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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