unholy

C2+ Topic:Religion & Belief

US /ʌnˈhoʊli/ UK /ʌnˈhəʊli/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
wicked or sinful; not sacred

They struck an unholy alliance for the sake of power.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · wicked or sinful; not sacred wicked sinful ungodly profane impious irreligious sacrilegious

Opposites

holy sacred blessed sanctified divine

Word family

Derived forms unholinessunholily

Related forms holy holiness hallow

Etymology

From Old English unhālig ('unholy, profane'), from un- ('not') + hālig ('holy'), from hāl ('whole, sound').

un- Old English hālig Old English *hailagaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Religion & Belief Word Formation & Derivatives

# unholy

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ʌnˈhoʊli
**IPA (UK):** ʌnˈhəʊli

## Meanings
1. wicked or sinful; not sacred

## Examples
- They struck an unholy alliance for the sake of power.

## Synonyms
- wicked
- sinful
- ungodly
- profane
- impious
- irreligious
- sacrilegious

## Antonyms
- holy
- sacred
- blessed
- sanctified
- divine

## Derived Forms
- unholiness
- unholily

## Related Forms
- holy
- holiness
- hallow

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: un-
- Root: hālig
- Root: *hailagaz

## Etymology
From Old English unhālig ('unholy, profane'), from un- ('not') + hālig ('holy'), from hāl ('whole, sound').

## AI Etymology
Unholy is from Old English unhālig ('unholy, profane'), from un- ('not') + hālig ('holy'), from hāl ('whole, sound'). Important recorded forms include un- (Old English), hālig (Old English), and *hailagaz (Proto-Germanic). Morphologically, the un- element marks negation, reversal, removal, or deprivation, while the base supplies the action, quality, or state being denied or undone. The modern sense is largely compositional, with the historical elements narrowing into a stable English lexical item. In current use it covers wicked or sinful; not sacred. The wider family includes derived forms such as unholiness and unholily and related words such as holy, holiness, and hallow.

## Topics
- Religion & Belief
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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unholy

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