Defilement
//dɪˈfaɪəlmənt// noun
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The act of defiling. countable, uncountable
"Time has taken a terrible revenge upon mankind for his despoliation of the valleys and his defilement of the mountains, yet the industries and the railways of South Wales still put the bravest front upon an outlook which all may hope is becoming less saddening and less grim."
- 2 the state of being polluted wordnet
- 3 The state of being defiled. countable, uncountable
- 4 The protection of the interior walls of a fortification from enfilading fire, as by covering them, or by a high parapet on the exposed side. countable, uncountable
Example
More examples"Time has taken a terrible revenge upon mankind for his despoliation of the valleys and his defilement of the mountains, yet the industries and the railways of South Wales still put the bravest front upon an outlook which all may hope is becoming less saddening and less grim."
Etymology
From defile + -ment.
Related phrases
More for "defilement"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.