Impious
/ˈɪm.pi.əs/noun
Lacking reverence or respect, especially toward a deity or sacred things.
Did you know?In Latin, the root behind *pious* was about duty and reverence, so *impious* originally marked someone as spiritually out of order, not just “rude.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*pei-
“to care for, tend, or protect”
Latin
Latin
pius
“dutiful, devout, reverent”
Latin
Latin
impius
“undutiful, irreverent, impious”
Old French
Old French
impie
“impious, irreverent”
Middle English
English
impious
“lacking reverence or respect, especially toward God or sacred things”