unholyadj.n.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈhəʊli/, U.S. /ˌənˈhoʊli/ 1. Not holy; impious, profane, wicked: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 . View more context for this quotation1873 J. A. Symonds Stud. Greek Poets vii. 192 The idea of Nemesis quelling the insolent and smiting the unholy.
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? View more context for this quotation
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!
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. View more context for this quotation
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.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈhəʊli/, U.S. /ˌənˈhoʊli/ 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
society > faith > aspects of faith > holiness > unholiness > [adjective]
unhallowedc1000
unholyc1000
unsacred1382
unblesseda1425
unconsecrate1529
unconjured1546
unsanctified1570
unconsecrated1579
disholy1593
indivine1603
unholied1619
insacred1665
1619 M. Drayton Barons Warres i. vi, in Poems (rev. ed.) 2 Thou shouldst to them haue layd the Holy Word, And not thy hand to the unholyed Sword.
1649 C. Walker Anarchia Anglicana To Rdr. O wretched unholied men! What are they that thus commit Burglary in the Sanctum Sanctorum of Gods Providence?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1924; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.c1000
v.a1555