unholyadj.n.

Brit.

/(ˌ)ʌnˈhəʊli/, U.S.

/ˌənˈhoʊli/

Etymology: Old English unhálig ( < un- un- prefix¹ 1 + hálig holy adj.), = North Frisian unhilleg; older Flemish (Kilian) onheyligh, Middle Dutch onheilich (rare), Dutch onheilig; Old Norse úheilagr (Middle Danish and Danish uhellig, Swedish ohelig).

1. Not holy; impious, profane, wicked:

a. Of persons.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > aspects of faith > holiness > unholiness > [adjective]

unhallowedc1000

unholyc1000

unsacred1382

unblesseda1425

unconsecrate1529

unconjured1546

unsanctified1570

unconsecrated1579

disholy1593

indivine1603

unholied1619

insacred1665

c1000 Lambeth Ps. xlii. 1 Toscead intingan minne of un~haligre þeode.

1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. Prol. 3 In Habite of an Hermite vn-holy of werkes.

1526 Bible (Tyndale) 2 Tim. iii. 2 The men shalbe..vnthankfull, vnholy, churlisshe.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) v. vi. 119 Will you be put in minde of his blinde Fortune..by this vnholy Braggart?

1685 R. Baxter Paraphr. New Test. Matt. xxv. 26 To confess God's holy Government, and yet to be unholy, is to be self condemning.

1738 J. Wesley Coll. Psalms & Hymns (new ed.) v. ii In Souls unholy and unclean Thou never canst delight.

1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna x. xlvii. 235 Unholy men, Feasting like fiends upon the infidel dead.

1833 T. Carlyle in Fraser's Mag. Aug. 150/1 To lodge the whole unholy Brotherhood..in separate cells of the Bastille!

absolute.1526 Bible (Tyndale) 1 Tim. i. 10 The lawe is..geven..to synners, to vnholy and vnclean.1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 106 Hast thee, and..drive out the sinful Pair, From hallowd ground th' unholie . 1873 J. A. Symonds Stud. Greek Poets vii. 192 The idea of Nemesis quelling the insolent and smiting the unholy.

b. Of acts, things, etc.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > moral evil > wickedness > [adjective] > specifically of actions, thoughts, etc.

illc1175

unholyc1384

unhallowed1591

viperous1850

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Tim. ii. 16 Schonye thou vnhooli and veyn spechis.

1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 363 (MS. A) If he pourchace By wey of thefte unholy thing.

1526 Bible (Tyndale) Heb. x. 29 He..which..counteth the bloud off the testament as an vnholy thynge.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) iv. iii. 30 To keepe me from a most vnholy match.

1645 J. Milton L'Allegro in Poems 30 In Stygian Cave forlorn 'Mongst horrid shapes, and shreiks, and sights unholy.

1653 Bp. J. Taylor Ενιαυτος: Course of Serm. iv. 50 If things that are lawfull may yet be unholy in this sense; much more are unlawfull things most unholy in all senses.

1717 A. Pope Eloisa to Abelard in Wks. 428 Far other dreams my erring soul employ, Far other raptures, of unholy joy.

1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Odyssey in Iliad & Odyssey II. xxii. 479 Unholy is the voice Of loud thanksgiving over slaughter'd men.

1842 H. E. Manning Serm. x. 135 Cultivation of mind, refinement,..are often found in men of the unholiest passions.

1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ Valerie's Fate v There is nothing so awful, so unholy as a mere marriage of expediency.

2. colloquial. Awful, dreadful. (Cf. ungodly adj. 3.)

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > state of being accursed > [adjective] > as everyday imprecation

stinking?c1225

misbegetc1325

banned1340

cursefula1382

wariablea1382

cursedc1386

biccheda1400

maledighta1400

vilea1400

accursedc1400

whoresona1450

remauldit?1473

execrable1490

infamous1490

unbicheda1500

jolly1534

bloodyc1540

mangy?1548

pagan1550

damned1563

misbegotten1571

putid1580

desperate1581

excremental1591

inexecrable?1594

sacred1594

putrid1628

sad1664

blasted1682

plagued1728

damnation1757

infernal1764

damn1775

pesky1775

deuced1782

shocking1798

blessed1806

darned1815

dinged1821

anointed1823

goldarn1830

darn1835

cussed1837

blamed1840

unholy1842

verdomde1850

bleeding1858

ghastly1860

goddam1861

blankety1872

blame1876

bastard1877

God-awful1877

dashed1881

sodding1881

bally1885

ungodly1887

blazing1888

dee1889

motherfucking1890

blistering1900

plurry1900

Christly1910

blinking1914

blethering1915

blighted1915

blighting1916

soddish1922

somethinged1922

effing1929

Jesus1929

dagnab1934

bastarding1944

Christless1947

mother-loving1948

mothering1951

pussyclaat1957

mother-grabbing1959

pigging1970

1842 C. Dickens Let. 24 Dec. (1974) III. 401 I am reminded of my promise to see to the Pantomime, and am called out at this unholy hour.

1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iv. iii. 178 An unholy glare..shone in the eyes of Mr. Wegg.

1883 D. C. Murray Hearts (1885) xxxiv. 288 He had arrived..at a rather unholy sort of hour.

1899 E. Phillpotts Human Boy 35 Trelawny had called him an ‘unholy bounder’.

3. n. An unholy person or thing.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > aspects of faith > holiness > unholiness > [noun] > person or thing

unholy1834

1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus iii. xi, in Fraser's Mag. Aug. 190/2 How many other Unholies has your covering Art made holy, besides this Arabian Whinstone!

1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. I. i. ii. 10 All Phenomena of the spiritual kind: Dignities, Authorities, Holies, Unholies.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1924; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

unholyv.

Brit.

/(ˌ)ʌnˈhəʊli/, U.S.

/ˌənˈhoʊli/

Etymology: un- prefix² 1a.

transitive. To make unholy.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > aspects of faith > holiness > unholiness > make unholy [verb (transitive)]

unholya1555

unsanctify1594

common1623

a1555 J. Philpot in M. Coverdale Certain Lett. Martyrs (1564) 238 You haue bene sanctifyed and made pure through the truth, take hede you be not vnholied and defyled.

Derivatives

unˈholied adj.

ΘΚΠ