From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsacrilegesac‧ri‧lege /ˈsækrəlɪdʒ/ noun [countable, uncountable] 1 OFFENDwhen someone treats something holy in a way that does not show respect2 BAD BEHAVIOUR OR ACTIONSwhen someone treats something that another person thinks is very important or special without enough care or respectit is sacrilege (for somebody) to do something It’s sacrilege to even think of destroying that lovely building. —sacrilegious /ˌsækrəˈlɪdʒəs◂/ adjective
Examples from the Corpus
sacrilege• But Cizek never on any account draws on a child's drawing; that would be a sacrilege.• Putting them to any secular use was considered sacrilege and was punishable by death.• Your colleague, it seems, must suffer the punishment set for sacrilege by the Askonian code.• After his lying here smelling this bad for three days filling up with crabs, any rites at all is sacrilege.• Sending a guest away with no food is sacrilege to my mother.• It seemed a kind of sacrilege thus to arrange it and pull it about.• The thieves, however, were soon punished for the sacrilege.• This is not the sacrilege some have made it out to be.• For their sacrilege, they were dispersed with guns and teargas, and three campuses were closed.Origin sacrilege (1300-1400) Old French Latin sacrilegium, from sacer ( → SACRED) + legere “to gather, steal” 