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. 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 ] | 