verb
defile
dih-FYLE/dɪˈfaɪl/
To make unclean or morally impure.
The muddy boot defiles the clean ceremonial cloth with dark smears.
Etymology
“Trample down” also meant to violate or dishonor, connecting physical mistreatment with desecration. The English verb was also influenced by Middle English filen, “to make unclean or impure,” linking it directly with literal and figurative pollution.
In context
You don't want to defile your Temple with unclean things do you?
and they curse anyone who would defile the statue
More examples
- Waste from the factory defiled the stream.
- The character feared that greed would defile the sacred ritual.
- They condemned the attempt to defile the burial ground.
Forms
defile · defiles · defiled · defiling
Similar words
- pollute
- Pollute contaminates materially; defile can also violate moral or sacred purity.
- desecrate
- Desecrate violates something sacred; defile includes ordinary physical fouling as well.