desecrate
verb /ˈdesɪkreɪt/
/ˈdesɪkreɪt/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they desecrate | /ˈdesɪkreɪt/ /ˈdesɪkreɪt/ |
| he / she / it desecrates | /ˈdesɪkreɪts/ /ˈdesɪkreɪts/ |
| past simple desecrated | /ˈdesɪkreɪtɪd/ /ˈdesɪkreɪtɪd/ |
| past participle desecrated | /ˈdesɪkreɪtɪd/ /ˈdesɪkreɪtɪd/ |
| -ing form desecrating | /ˈdesɪkreɪtɪŋ/ /ˈdesɪkreɪtɪŋ/ |
- desecrate something to damage a holy thing or place or treat it without respect
- desecrated graves
- (figurative) ruinous new road schemes that desecrate the countryside
Oxford Collocations DictionaryDesecrate is used with these nouns as the object:- grave
Word Originlate 17th cent.: from de- (expressing reversal) + a shortened form of consecrate.