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impious - 3 dictionary results

im⋅pi⋅ous

  [im-pee-uhs, im-pahy-]
Use impious in a Sentence
–adjective
1. not pious or religious; lacking reverence for God, religious practices, etc.; irreligious; ungodly.
2. disrespectful.
Origin:
1565–75; < L impius. See im- 2 , pious

Related forms:
im⋅pi⋅ous⋅ly, adverb
im⋅pi⋅ous⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. sacrilegious, blasphemous, irreverent.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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im·pi·ous   (ĭm-pī'əs, ĭm'pē-)   
adj.  
  1. Lacking reverence; not pious.
  2. Lacking due respect or dutifulness: impious toward one's parents.

[From Latin impius : in-, not; see in-1 + pius, dutiful.]
im'pi·ous·ly adv., im'pi·ous·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Impious

Im"pi*ous\, a. [L. impius; pref. im- not + pius piou. See Pious.] Not pious; wanting piety; irreligious; irreverent; ungodly; profane; wanting in reverence for the Supreme Being; as, an impious deed; impious language.

When vice prevails, and impious men bear away, The post of honor is a private station. --Addison.

Syn: Impious, Irreligious, Profane.

Usage: Irreligious is negative, impious and profane are positive. An indifferent man may be irreligious; a profane man is irreverent in speech and conduct; an impious man is wickedly and boldly defiant in the strongest sense. Profane also has the milder sense of secular. --C. J. Smith. -- Im"pi*ous*ly, adv. -- Im"pi*ous*ness, n.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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