English Explanatory Dictionary

unholy

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Not holy; (by extension) evil, impure, or otherwise perverted.
  2. Dreadful, terrible, excessive, or otherwise atrocious.

Pronunciation

/ʌnˈhəʊli/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-unholy.wav

Word forms

unholy unholier more unholy unholiest most unholy

Etymology

From Middle English unholi, unhaliȝ, from Old English unhāliġ, from Proto-Germanic *unhailagaz, equivalent to un- + holy. Cognate with Scots unhaly, Dutch onheilig, German Low German unhillig, German unheilig, Danish uhellig, Swedish ohelig.

Synonyms

common impious impure mishallowed profane unhallowed unholy

Antonyms

holy blessed celestial devoutful divine hallowed heavenly godly sacred sanctimonious

Derived words

unholy alliance unholy trinity unholy water
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on U Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary