Impiousness

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Impious \Im"pi*ous\, a. [L. impius; pref. im- not + pius piou.
     See {Pious}.]
     Not pious; wanting piety; irreligious; irreverent; ungodly;
     profane; wanting in reverence for the Supreme Being; as, an
     impious deed; impious language.
     [1913 Webster]


  
           When vice prevails, and impious men bear away,
           The post of honor is a private station.  --Addison.
  
     Syn: {Impious}, {Irreligious}, {Profane}.
  
     Usage: Irreligious is negative, impious and profane are
            positive. An indifferent man may be irreligious; a
            profane man is irreverent in speech and conduct; an
            impious man is wickedly and boldly defiant in the
            strongest sense. Profane also has the milder sense of
            secular. --C. J. Smith. -- {Im"pi*ous*ly}, adv. --
            {Im"pi*ous*ness}, n.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  impiousness
       n : unrighteousness by virtue of lacking respect for a god [syn:
            {impiety}] [ant: {piety}]