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Entry 5 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

Profane

/prōf-ān'/ · Pro·fane · IPA /pɹəˈfeɪn/
01 a. Not sacred or holy; not possessing peculiar sanctity; unconsecrated; hence, relating to matters other than sacred; secular; -- opposed to s…
  1. 1.
    Not sacred or holy; not possessing peculiar sanctity; unconsecrated; hence, relating to matters other than sacred; secular; -- opposed to sacred, religious, or inspired; as, a profane place.
    “The profane wreath was suspended before the shrine.” — Gibbon.
  2. 2.
    Unclean; impure; polluted; unholy.
    “Nothing is profane that serveth to holy things.” — Sir W. Raleigh.
  3. 3.
    Treating sacred things with contempt, disrespect, irreverence, or undue familiarity; irreverent; impious.
Syn. Secular; temporal; worldly; unsanctified; unhallowed; unholy; irreligious; irreverent; ungodly; wicked; godless; impious. See Impious.
02 v. t. To violate, as anything sacred; to treat with abuse, irreverence, obloquy, or contempt; to desecrate; to pollute; as, to profane the name o…
imp. & p. p. Profaned; p. pr. & vb. n. Profaning
  1. 1.
    To violate, as anything sacred; to treat with abuse, irreverence, obloquy, or contempt; to desecrate; to pollute; as, to profane the name of God; to profane the Scriptures, or the ordinance of God.
    “The priests in the temple profane the sabbath.” — Matt. xii. 5.
  2. 2.
    To put to a wrong or unworthy use; to make a base employment of; to debase; to abuse; to defile.
    “So idly to profane the precious time.” — Shak.