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Profane vs Pervert - What's the difference?

profane | pervert |

In transitive terms the difference between profane and pervert

is that profane is to put to a wrong or unworthy use; to make a base employment of; to debase; to abuse; to defile while pervert is to turn from truth, rectitude, or propriety; to divert from a right use, end, or way; to lead astray; to corrupt.

As an adjective profane

is unclean; ritually impure; unholy, desecrating a holy place or thing.

profane

English

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • Unclean; ritually impure; unholy, desecrating a holy place or thing.
  • * Sir Walter Raleigh
  • Nothing is profane that serveth to holy things.
  • Not sacred or holy, unconsecrated; relating to non-religious matters, secular.
  • * I. Disraeli
  • profane authors
  • * Gibbon
  • The profane wreath was suspended before the shrine.
  • Treating sacred things with contempt, disrespect, irreverence, or undue familiarity; blasphemous, impious. Hence, specifically; Irreverent in language; taking the name of God in vain; given to swearing; blasphemous; as, a profane person, word, oath, or tongue.
  • a profane person, word, oath, or tongue
  • * Bible, 1 Timothy 1:9
  • Synonyms

    * (obscene) vulgar, inappropriate, obscene, debased, uncouth, offensive, ignoble, mean, lewd * secular * temporal * worldly * unsanctified * unhallowed * unholy * irreligious * irreverent * ungodly * wicked * godless * impious

    Antonyms

    * holy * sacred

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A person or thing that is profane.
  • * 1796 , Matthew Lewis, The Monk , Folio Society 1985, p. 244:
  • The nuns were employed in religious duties established in honour of St Clare, and to which no profane was ever admitted.
  • (freemasonry) A person not a Mason.
  • Verb

    (profan)
  • To violate, as anything sacred; to treat with abuse, irreverence, obloquy, or contempt; to desecrate; to pollute; as, to profane the name of God; to profane the Scriptures, or the ordinance of God.
  • * 1851 ,
  • With one mind, their intent eyes all fastened upon the old man’s knife, as he carved the chief dish before him. I do not suppose that for the world they would have profaned that moment with the slightest observation, even upon so neutral a topic as the weather.
  • To put to a wrong or unworthy use; to make a base employment of; to debase; to abuse; to defile.
  • Antonyms

    * consecrate * sanctify

    pervert

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (dated) One who has been perverted; one who has turned to error; one who has turned to a twisted sense of values or morals.
  • A person whose sexual habits are not considered acceptable.
  • Those perverts were trying to spy on us while we changed clothes!

    Usage notes

    * In contemporary usage, pervert is usually understood to refer to a sexually perverted person. Traditionally the word was mainly associated with persons of false religious beliefs.

    Synonyms

    * (sexually perverted person) deviant, perv (slang)

    Antonyms

    * convert (religious)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To turn another way; to divert.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Let's follow him, and pervert the present wrath.
  • To turn from truth, rectitude, or propriety; to divert from a right use, end, or way; to lead astray; to corrupt.
  • * Milton
  • He, in the serpent, had perverted Eve.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2004 , date=April 15 , author= , title=Morning swoop in hunt for Jodi's killer , work=The Scotsman citation , page= , passage=A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said: "We can confirm that a 15-year-old boy has been arrested and charged in connection with the murder of Jodi Jones. A 45-year-old has also been arrested in connection with allegations of attempting to pervert the course of justice. A report on this has been sent to the procurator fiscal." }}
  • To misapply; to misinterpret designedly.
  • pervert one's words
  • To become perverted; to take the wrong course.
  • (Testament of Love)

    Synonyms

    * (turn another way) divert, steer, veer * corrupt, lead astray * misapply, misuse * (take the wrong course)