Unholy

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ʌnˈhəʊli/

Definitions

1. Profane, wicked, or contrary to religious or moral principles; something sinful or sacrilegious in nature
2. Characterized by a lack of holiness
3. it pertains to actions or states that contradict sacred values, often associated with evil or immoral conduct

Etymology: Old English had "hāliġ," meaning holy or sacred, and adding the prefix "un-" gave "unhāliġ," the opposite: not holy, profane. The word's Germanic ancestor was reconstructed as "*unhailagaz," and it has relatives across the family, including Dutch "onheilig," German "unheilig," and Swedish "ohelig," so the notion of something outside sacred values is ancient in the northern languages. English first wrote "unholi" in the Middle English period, and it carried the moral weight of the old religious sense: a deed or person set against the sacred. Scots kept a close cousin, "unhaly," which shows the word spreading through the Germanic dialects of Britain. Because the word is a plain combination of "un-" and "holy," its meaning has stayed close to its parts: anything that offends what is held sacred.

Synonyms: evil, wicked, sinful, immoral, sacrilegious

Antonyms: holy, sacred, virtuous, righteous