blaspheme
/blasˈfiːm
/verb [no object]
Speak irreverently about God or sacred things: he has blasphemed against the Holy Spirit...
- Chesterton observed long ago that we only blaspheme what we hold sacred.
- As the text we read this morning makes clear, death is the penalty for blaspheming and cursing God.
- Already they are blaspheming and doing blasphemous things against the church.
Synonyms
swear, curse, utter oaths, utter profanities, take the Lord's name in vain
informal cuss
archaic execrate, imprecate
Derivatives
blasphemer
/ noun ...- He admits that he was once a blasphemer and a persecutor of the faith.
- And Paul, an apostle and leader in the church, was once ‘a blasphemer, a persecutor and a man of violence.’
- The strengthening of the sovereign's power had diminished the threat of the blasphemer to the community, and blasphemy became a private sin rather than a public menace.
Origin
Middle English: via Old French from ecclesiastical Latin blasphemare 'reproach, revile, blaspheme', from Greek blasphēmein, from blasphēmos 'evil-speaking'. Compare with blame.
blame from Middle English:
Blame is from the Old French blamer, blasmer, from a popular Latin variant of ecclesiastical Latin blasphemare ‘reproach, revile, blaspheme’, from Greek blasphēmein, source also of Middle English blaspheme.