Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Unholy

Definition: Unholy

Unholy

Adjective

1. Not hallowed or consecrated.

2. Extremely evil or cruel; expressive of cruelty or befitting hell; "something demonic in him--something that could be cruel"; "fires lit up a diabolic scene"; "diabolical sorcerers under the influence of devils"; "a fiendish despot"; "hellish torture"; "infernal instruments of war"; "satanic cruelty"; "unholy grimaces".

3. Having committed unrighteous acts; "a sinful person".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "unholy" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references)


Synonyms: Unholy

Synonyms: demonic (adj), diabolic (adj), diabolical (adj), fiendish (adj), hellish (adj), infernal (adj), satanic (adj), sinful (adj), unhallowed (adj), wicked (adj). (additional references)
Antonym: holy (adj). (additional references)

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Synonyms within Context: Unholy

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Irreligion

Adjective: irreligious; indevout; undevout; devoutless, godless, graceless; ungodly, unholy, unsanctified, unhallowed; atheistic, without God.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Unholy

English words defined with "unholy": Dishallowunholiness. (references)
Specialty definitions using "unholy": AltarBODYSacred Isle. (references)

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Modern Usage: Unholy

DomainUsage

Screenplays

I really am some kind of unholy vampire messiah. (Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver II; writing credit: Amy Hennig)

Also known as Vigo the Cruel, Vigo the Torturer, Vigo the Despised, and Vigo the Unholy. (Ghostbusters II; writing credit: Dan Aykroyd; Harold Ramis)

I gotta stop him before he unleashes unholy havoc and it's just another Tuesday night in Sunnydale. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; writing credit: Doreen Spicer)

Angel, a monument to unholy carnality, and a cesspool of marital pollution, a shameless, brazen, bulldozing female prepared to humiliate, provoke, and tantalize, savagely seeking the tranquilizer of unrestrained fulfillment. (Good Morning... and Goodbye!; writing credit: Jack Moran)

My son, we're pilgrims in an unholy land. (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; writing credit: Mario Van Peebles)

Lyrics

Unholy shall be our way, never shall we betray. (One With Darkness; performing artist: Cher)

Only ya unholy, only have one homey (Sing For The Moment; performing artist: EMINEM)

Movie/TV Titles

Unholy Rollers (1972)

The Unholy Wife (1957)

Unholy Partners (1941)

The Unholy Quest (1934)

Unholy Love (1932)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Unholy

DomainTitle

Books

  • Chronicles of the Host II: Unholy Empire (reference)

  • Six Thousand Years of Bread: Its Holy and Unholy History (The Cook's Classic Library) (reference)

  • Unholy Ground: An Inspector Matt Minogue Mystery (reference)

    (more book examples)

  

Theater & Movies

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Unholy

SubjectTopicQuote

Political Economy

Japan

The LDP's strong protection for Japan's inefficient farmers against the interests of the majority of Japanese consumers is infamous, but the Japan Medical Association works closely with the LDP to thwart needed changes in Japan's healthcare system and Japan's construction firms are locked in an unholy alliance with LDP politicians to build roads to nowhere and ozymandian edifices at the public expense. (references)

Lexicography

Devil's Dictionary

ALTAR, n. The place whereupon the priest formerly raveled out the small intestine of the sacrificial victim for purposes of divination and cooked its flesh for the gods. The word is now seldom used, except with reference to the sacrifice of their liberty and peace by a male and a female tool. They stood before the altar and supplied The fire themselves in which their fat was fried. In vain the sacrifice! -- no god will claim An offering burnt with an unholy flame. M.P. Nopput

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Speeches: Unholy

SpeakerTermPhrase(s)

Bill Clinton

1993-2001We must combat an unholy axis of new threats from terrorists, international criminals and drug traffickers.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Usage Frequency: Unholy

"Unholy" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 79.01% of the time. "Unholy" is used about 81 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Adjective (general or positive)79.01%6442,009
Adverb (general)13.58%11106,044
Noun (proper)6.17%5157,705
Noun (common)1.23%1339,140
                    Total100.00%81N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Expression: Unholy

Expression using "unholy": unholy din. Additional references.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Unholy

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

unholy

14

unholy war

11

esham the unholy

8

horse personalized picture unholy

8

ghost unholy

5

unholy trinity

4

grave unholy

4

alliance unholy

4

graal nation unholy

3

black metal unholy

3

cheat unholy war

3

nation unholy

2

nun unholy

2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: Unholy

Language Translations for "unholy"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Albanian

  

mbinatyror (eerie, supernatural), i mëkatshëm (erring, unhallowed). (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏غير مقدس, ‏آثم (peccant, unrighteous, vicious), ‏شيطاني (demoniacal, demonic, devilish, diabolic, diabolical, fiendish, hellish, impish, infernal, playful, satanic, serpentine, swinging), ‏شرير (bad, black, black-hearted, dark, devil, diabolic, diabolical, evil, ill, iniquitous, maleficent, malicious, malign, nasty, naughty, rascally, reprobate, rogue, roguish, rude, sinister, spiteful, vicious, wicked). (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

ужасен (aghast, appalling, awful, bloodcurdling, deadly, desperate, deuced, devastating, dire, direful, dreadful, eldritch, execrable, fearful, fearsome, frantic, frightful, furious, ghastly, great, grievous, grisly, gruesome, horrible, horrid, horror-stricken, lurid, macabre, miserable, morbid, murderous, planet-stricken, planet-struck, precious, sad, septic, terrible, terrific, towering, tremendous, unmentionable, vicious, wretched), сатанински (fiendish, satanic, sulphurous), отвратителен (abhorrent, abominable, accursed, accurst, atrocious, awful, beastly, bestial, carrion, creepy, cursed, damnable, detestable, disgustful, disgusting, distasteful, execrable, foul, fulsome, gruesome, hateful, heinous, hideous, horrible, ill-favored, ill-favoured, infamous, loathsome, lousy, miserable, morbid, nasty, nauseous, noisome, odious, offensive, punk, putrid, rank, repellent, revolting, rotten, septic, shocking, sickening, ugly, unsavory, unsavoury, unspeakable, villainous, wicked), нечестив (impious, nefarious, profane, unclean, unhallowed), неосветен (unhallowed, unlit), безбожен (godless, irreligious, outrageous, unchristian, ungodly, wicked), прекален (excessive, extreme, inordinate, overdone, profuse, superfluous, thick, unconscionable, undue, unmerciful). (various references)

   

Czech

  

zlý (bad, dirty, evil, evil-minded, ferocious, maleficent, malign, mean, niddering, rank, severe, vicious, wicked), pekelný (hellish, infernal, ungodly), příšerný (appalling, atrocious, blinding, chronic, creepy, damnable, dreadful, excruciating, fearful, fiendish, ghastly, grisly, gruesome, horrendous, terrible, terrific, unspeakable, villainous, weird), nepřirozený (contrived, factious, far fetched, farfetched, hollow, unnatural), nekalý (dishonest), dìsný (awful, dreadful, fearsome, great, grim, grisly, gruesome, hair-rising, hairy, horrid, lurid, macabre, unearthly), bezbožný (godless, impious, ungodly, wicked). (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

نامقدس , کفرامیز (Profane, Unhallow, Unhallowed), سنگدل (Implacability, Implacable, Inexorable, Obdurate, Unfeeling, Ungodly). (various references)

   

French

  

profane, impie (unrighteous). (various references)

   

German

  

unheilig (unhallowed, unsaintly). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

ανόσιοσ, ανίεροσ (sacrilegious, unhallowed). (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

מרושע (diabolic, evil, iniquitous, malevolent, malicious, malign, malignant, nefarious, sinister, vicious, vile, villainous, wicked), רשע (evil, evildoing, harm, iniquity, malignant, wicked, wrong), ורא (bloody, damned, dire, dread, fearful, frightful, hellish, shocking, terrible, terrific). (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

istentelen (freaking, godless, impious, miscreant, pagan, paganish, ungodly). (various references)

   

Italian

  

empio (godless, heinous, impious, ungodly). (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji 

  

俗念 (unholy desires, worldliness, worldly ambition). (various references)

   

Japanese Katakana 

  

ぞくね" (unholy desires, worldliness, worldly ambition). (various references)

   

Manx

  

meenoo (impious, unhallowed), anchasherick (impious, profane). (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

olyunhay

   

Portuguese

  

profano (abysmal, outsider, profane, temporal, unhallowed, worldly), pecaminoso (abysmal, sinful), irreligioso (irreligious), horrível (abysmal, awful, direful, dismal, dread, dreadful, dreary, ghastly, gruesome, horrible, nasty, terrible), ímpio (abysmal, godless, unblessed, ungodly, unhallowed). (various references)

   

Russian 

  

нечестивый (godless, impious, unrighteous), порочный (evil, perverse, vicious). (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

neosveštan. (various references)

   

Spanish

  

terrible (awful, devastating, dire, dirty, dread, dreadful, eerie, evil, fearful, ghastly, gruesome, hellish, hideous, horrible, horrid, jolly, lousy, lurid, outrageous, splitting, terrible, terror, wicked), impío (godless, impious, profane, ungodly). (various references)

   

Swedish

  

ondskefull (baleful, fiendish, ill natured, pernicious, sinister), okristlig, ohelig, förskräcklig (abysmal, apalling, appalling, desperate, dire, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightful, gruesome, horrendous, horrible, shocking, terrible, tremendous). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

kutsal olmayan, kötücül (cankered, malevolent, malicious, malign, malignant, wicked), fena (angrily, bad, badly, evil, foul, ill, malicious, miserable, nasty, poor, poorly, sinful, sinister, vicious, wicked), dine aykırı. (various references)

   

Ukrainian

  

нечестивий (castaway, godless, impious, irreligious, nefarious, profane, reprobate, unrighteous, wicked), злісний (baleful, cammed, cankered, cattish, despiteful, diabolic, diabolical, evil-minded, inveterate, malicious, malign, malignant, venomous, virulent, wrathy), бісівський (devilish). (various references)

   

Vietnamese 

  

xấu xa (cankerous, ignominious, nameless, ugly, vicious), vô đạo, không linh thiêng không tín ngưỡng. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Bible Trace: Unholy

LanguageDateSourceHebrews Chapter 10, Verse 29
Greek (transliterated)250 BCSeptuagintPosw dokeite ceironoV axiwqhsetai timwriaV o ton uion tou qeou katapathsaV kai to aima thV diaqhkhV koinon hghsamenoV en w hgiasqh kai to pneuma thV caritoV enubrisaV
Latin405VulgateQuanto magis putatis deteriora mereri supplicia qui Filium Dei conculcaverit et sanguinem testamenti pollutum duxerit in quo sanctificatus est et Spiritui gratiae contumeliam fecerit
Middle English1395WyclifHou myche more gessen ye, that he disserueth worse turmentis, which defouleth the sone of God, and holdith the blood of the testament pollut, in which he is halewid, and doith dispit to the spirit of grace?
Renaissance English1526TyndaleOf how moche sorer punyshment suppose ye shall he be counted worthy which treadeth vnderfote the sonne of god: and counteth the bloude of the testament as an vnholy thynge wherwith he was sanctified and doth dishonoure to the sprete of grace.
Jacobean English1611King JamesOf how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
Victorian English1833WebsterOf how much more severe punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, by which he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite to the Spirit of grace?
Basic English1964OgdenBut will not the man by whom the Son of God has been crushed under foot, and the blood of the agreement with which he was washed clean has been taken as an unholy thing, and who has had no respect for the Spirit of grace, be judged bad enough for a very much worse punishment?

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Matched Bible Translations: Unholy

LanguageHebrews Chapter 10, Verse 29
CebuanoSa inyong paghunahuna, unsa ka labi pa ka mabug-at gayud sa silot nga mahiaguman sa tawo nga magayatak sa Anak sa Dios, ug magapakawalay bili sa dugo sa pakigsaad nga pinaagi niini gibalaan siya, ug magapanamastamas sa Espiritu sa grasya?
CroatianZamislite koliko li æe goru kaznu zavrijediti tko Sina Božjega pogazi, i neèistom smatra krv Saveza kojom je posveæen, i Duha milosti pogrdi?
Danishhvor meget værre Straf mene I da, at den skal agtes værd, som træder Guds Søn under Fod og agter Pagtens Blod, hvormed han blev helliget, for urent og forhåner Nådens Ånd?
DutchHoeveel te zwaarder straf, meent gij, zal hij waardig geacht worden, die den Zoon van God vertreden heeft, en het bloed des testaments onrein geacht heeft, waardoor hij geheiligd was, en den Geest der genade smaadheid heeft aangedaan?
Finnishkuinka paljoa ankaramman rangaistuksen luulettekaan sen ansaitsevan, joka tallaa jalkoihinsa Jumalan Pojan ja pitää epäpyhänä liiton veren, jossa hänet on pyhitetty, ja pilkkaa armon Henkeä!
Frenchde quel pire châtiment pensez-vous que sera jugé digne celui qui aura foulé aux pieds le Fils de Dieu, qui aura tenu pour profane le sang de l`alliance, par lequel il a été sanctifié, et qui aura outragé l`Esprit de la grâce?
GermanWie viel, meint ihr, ärgere Strafe wird der verdienen, der den Sohn Gottes mit Füßen tritt und das Blut des Testaments unrein achtet, durch welches er geheiligt ist, und den Geist der Gnade schmäht?
Haitian CreoleNou pa bezwen mande kisa ki va rive yon moun k'ap meprize Pitit Bondye a, yon moun ki pran san Pitit Bondye a pou anyen, san ki sèvi pou siyen kontra Bondye a, san ki mete nou nan kondisyon pou fè sèvis Bondye a, san ki mete nou apa pou Bondye a. Wi, nou pa bezwen mande kisa ki va rive yon moun k'ap joure Lespri Bondye ki ban nou favè li a. Nou tou konnen li merite yon pi gwo chatiman.
Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hariBetapa lebih berat hukuman yang harus dijatuhkan atas orang yang menginjak-injak Anak Allah. Orang itu menganggap hina darah perjanjian Allah, yakni kematian Kristus yang membersihkannya dari dosa. Ia menghina Roh pemberi rahmat.
Indonesian-Terjemahan Lamakamu pikirlah, betapa berat lagi siksa yang patut dikenakan atas orang yang sudah melanyakkan Anak Allah itu, dan yang membilangkan najis darah perjanjian yang dalamnya Ia dikuduskan itu, dan yang mengolok-olokkan Roh pohon anugerah itu.
ItalianDi quanto maggior castigo allora pensate che sar ritenuto degno chi avr calpestato il Figlio di Dio e ritenuto profano quel sangue dell'alleanza dal quale è stato un giorno santificato e avr disprezzato lo Spirito della grazia?
LatvianKâ jums ðíiet, cik gan smagâku sodu pelna tas, kas Dieva Dçlu kâjâm mîtu un derîbas asinis, kurâs tas svçtîts, turçtu par nesvçtâm, un þçlastîbas Garu nievâtu?
MaoriKi to koutou whakaaro, e kore ranei e tika kia rahi ake te whiu mo te tangata i takahia ai te Tama a te Atua, i meinga ai hei mea noa nga toto o te kawenata i whakatapua ai ia, a whakaiti ana i te Wairua o te aroha noa?
Norwegianhvor meget verre straff tror I da den skal aktes verd som har trådt Guds Sønn under føtter og ringeaktet paktens blod, som han blev helliget ved, og har hånet nådens Ånd?
RumanianCu ckt mai asprq pedeapsq credeyi cq va lua cel ce va cqlca kn picioare pe Fiul lui Dumnezeu, va pkngqri skngele legqmkntului, cu care a fost sfinyit, wi va batjocori pe Duhul harului?
ShuarNúnisaitkiuinkia shuar Yusa Uchirin wishikiainiakka ni numpencha nakitiainiakka tura Yus niin anea nuna Wakanincha katsekainiakka nuna nankaamas Asutniáchartatuak. Warí, nii nakitiana nu numpajai Yamaram Chicham nekas umirkatin awajsamuyayi. Tura Nújaisha nii ti pénker awajnastiniuyayi.
Spanish¿Cuánto mayor castigo pensáis que merecerá el que ha pisoteado al Hijo de Dios, que ha considerado de poca importancia la sangre del pacto por la cual fue santificado y que ha ultrajado al Espíritu de gracia?
SwahiliJe, mtu yule anayempuuza Mwana wa Mungu na kuidharau damu ya agano la Mungu iliyomtakasa, mtu anayemtukana Roho wa Mungu, anastahili kupata adhabu kali ya namna gani?
Swedishhuru mycket svårare straff tron I icke då att den skall anses värd, som förtrampar Guds Son och aktar förbundets blod för orent -- det i vilket han har blivit helgad -- och som smädar nådens Ande!
UmaAne hewa toe-mi huku' tauna to uma mposaile' Atura Musa, peliu-liu-nami mpai' tauna to mpobahaka pepangala' -ra hi Yesus. Tauna toera, hewa to mpopongko lau-mi Ana' Alata'ala. Ra'uli' -rana, uma ria kalaua-na raa' Yesus to mporohoi Pojanci Alata'ala pai' to mpomoroli' -ra. Mporuge' lau-ramo Inoha' Tomoroli' to nawai' -taka Alata'ala ngkai kabula rala-na. Tantu meliu kagaga pehuku' -na Alata'ala hi tauna to hewa toe kehi-ra.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Misspellings: Unholy

Misspellings

"Unholy" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Anholt, Dunholm, Dunolly, Gunhild, Gunnhild, Mulhooley, Nujol, unchoosy, uncosy, unholly, unrolly. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Rhyming with "Unholy"

# of Phoneme MatchesPronunciationWord(s) rhyming with "unholy" (pronounced unhō"lē)
4-h ō" l ēholy, wholly.
3-ō" l ēgoalie, guacamole, lowly, moly, ravioli, slowly.

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

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Anagrams: Unholy

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "h-l-n-o-u-y"

-2 letters: holy, luny, only.

-3 letters: hon, hoy, hun, noh, yon, you.

-4 letters: ho, lo, no, nu, oh, on, oy, uh, un, yo.

 Words containing the letters "h-l-n-o-u-y"
 

+2 letters: honeyful, unholily.

 

+3 letters: heinously, uncouthly.

 

+4 letters: polyanthus, touchingly, unworthily.

 

+5 letters: honeysuckle, polyphonous, unscholarly.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Alternative Orthography: Unholy


Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

55 6E 68 6F 6C 79

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)

=

Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)

Braille (1829, in France) (references)

Morse Code (1836) (references)

..-    -.    ....    ---    .-..    -.--.

Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)

Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)

01010101 01101110 01101000 01101111 01101100 01111001

HTML Code (1990) (references)

&#85 &#110 &#104 &#111 &#108 &#121

ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)

0055 006E 0068 006F 006C 0079

British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)

Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)

558074817891

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INDEX

1. Definition
2. Synonyms
3. Crosswords
4. Usage: Modern
5. Usage: Commercial
6. Quotations: Non-fiction
7. Quotations: Speeches
8. Usage Frequency
9. Expressions
10. Expressions: Internet
11. Translations: Modern
12. Bible Trace
13. Derivations
14. Rhymes
15. Anagrams
16. Orthography
17. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.