Sacrilege

n.

1.

The sin or crime of violating or profaning sacred things; the alienating to laymen, or to common purposes, what has been appropriated or consecrated to religious persons or uses. And the hid treasures in her sacred tomb With sacrilege to dig. - Spenser. Families raised upon the ruins of churches, and enriched with the spoils of sacrilege. - South.

Noun

1.

sacrilege - blasphemous behavior; the act of depriving something of its sacred character; "desecration of the Holy Sabbath" Synonyms: desecration, profanation, blasphemy

SACRILEGE. The act of stealing from the temples or churches dedicated to the worship of God, articles consecrated to divine uses. Pen. Code of China, B. 1, s. 2, Sec. 6; Ayl. Par. 476.

abomination, abuse, atrocity, befouling, befoulment, blasphemousness, blasphemy, contamination, crime, debasement, defilement, desecration, disgrace, dishonoring, disrespect, fouling, heresy, ignominy, impiety, impiousness, infamy, irreverence, maltreatment, misuse, offense, outrage, perversion, pity, profanation, profaneness, profanity, prostitution, sacrilegiousness, scandal, secularization, shame, sin, terrible thing, violation, vitiation