Irreligiousness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of lacking belief in a deity is a distinctive characteristic, which may also encompass an absence of religious feelings or practices and a disregard for traditional religious norms
2. Distinctive for its absence of belief in any deity, this quality implies a lack of religious emotions or acts and an indifference toward established religious traditions
3. This characteristic signifies a rejection of belief in a god, often reflecting a lack of religious sentiments or observance while also showing indifference to conventional religious practices

Etymology: "Irreligiousness" is a plain English construction: the adjective "irreligious," meaning not religious or hostile to religion, with the suffix "-ness" attached to turn it into a noun for a state or quality. "Irreligious" itself is built from "religious" with the negative prefix "ir-," the form "in-" takes before an "r" sound, so the word is a layered formation: a Latin-derived root, a prefix, an adjective, and then a native English suffix. The suffix "-ness" is among the oldest productive noun-forming endings in English, descending from Old English and used to form abstract nouns from adjectives, such as "kindness" or "darkness." Because "-ness" can attach to nearly any adjective, it produces nouns that are rarely recorded individually, and "irreligiousness" is one of these: a transparent coinage whose meaning can be read directly from its parts, with no sense shift between base and derivative.

Synonyms: secularism, atheism, agnosticism, nonbelief, unbelief

Antonyms: religiosity, piety, devoutness, faith, belief