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to unsanctify

to unsanctify

9.5
To stop something being treated as sacred so it can be used for normal purposes
  • verb
  • /ʌnˈsæŋk.tɪ.faɪ/
translation icon : desacralizar
  • The council decided to unsanctify the old chapel before its demolition.

Examples

  • Rituals are sometimes held to unsanctify objects before they can be used for secular purposes.

  • The priest conducted a ceremony to unsanctify the artifacts for their new exhibition in the museum.

  • After years of misuse, the site was officially unsanctified by the clergy.

  • The new law will unsanctify certain traditional practices.

  • They unsanctified the temple after the scandal.

  • To repurpose the land, the local government decided to unsanctify the old graveyard.

  • After the scandal, the community felt it was necessary to unsanctify the church to restore trust.

Synonyms

to secularize
vsto unsanctify
4 7.6

To remove religious control from places like schools or hospitals

is focused on reducing religious character rather than solely removing holiness
to deconsecrate
vsto unsanctify
  • Formal
1 9.9

Officially say that a place such as a church or altar is no longer holy

is the same loss of sanctity but without official ritual
to desacralize
vsto unsanctify
  • Formal
1 9.9

Remove religious use from a place or object so people can use it for ordinary things

is about removing sacredness without necessarily changing ownership or control
to unhallow
vsto unsanctify
  • Archaic
9.9

To make a place or thing no longer holy

is the broad act of depriving something of its sanctity

Antonyms

24 7.4

To make a person or place holy with a religious ceremony

How Sacred

to consecrate
  • Formal
33 7.4
to sanctify
24 7.4
to profane
4 7.2
to unsanctify
9.5
to desecrate
44 8.1

Surface Forms

unsanctify infinitive
unsanctified past participle
unsanctifying present participle
unsanctifies third person singular

Morphology

unsanctify = sanctify (transparent) = un + sanct + ify

The negative prefix 'un-' is productively added to the verb 'sanctify', yielding a predictable opposite meaning.

Etymology

The word unsanctify starts with un- ('not') and the part sanctify, which comes from the Latin sanctus meaning 'holy', like in sanctuary or saint. So to unsanctify something is to take away its 'holy' or special status and make it ordinary.