[ adj ] grossly irreverent toward what is held to be sacred <adj.all> blasphemous rites of a witches' Sabbathprofane utterances against the Church it is sacrilegious to enter with shoes on
Sacrilegious \Sac`ri*le"gious\, a. [From sacrilege: cf. L. sacrilegus.] Violating sacred things; polluted with sacrilege; involving sacrilege; profane; impious.
Above the reach of sacrilegious hands. --Pope. ※ -- {Sac`ri*le"gious*ly}, adv. -- {Sac`ri*le"gious*ness}, n.
But the NEA came under close scrutiny last year after it funded a pair of controversial exhibits depicting work that could be considered sacrilegious or obscene.
He asked the court for a permanent injunction prohibiting the federal arts agency from "funding, sponsoring and endorsing works which promote blasphemous and sacrilegious hate material." The NEA had no comment on the lawsuit.
Many find the discussion far removed from their world, and even as they resist censorship, they have difficulty discussing the exhibits criticized as sacrilegious or sexually explicit.
Lee Johnson, an archivist for the church from 1962 until 1991, claims the book attempts to raise church founder Mary Baker Eddy to a deity, a notion he calls sacrilegious.
In any case, the embattled NEA chairman said there was "zero truth" to rumors that he may resign in the heat of battle over past endowment support for works that conservative critics have denounced as obscene and sacrilegious.
If the prosecutors who watched the film Wednesday determine that it may violate those laws, they can open a formal investigation. Protesters charge the movie is sacrilegious in its portrayal of Jesus.