unˈsaint, v.
[un-2 6 b.]
trans. To deprive of saintly character or status.
| 1572 R. T. Discourse 29 Thomas Becket, whom King Henry dyd vnsainte, and disgrade. 1594 Zepheria xiv, No neuer shall that face..Emblemisht be, defaced or unsaynted, Till death shall blot it. 1612 T. James Corrupt. Scripture iv. 51 The Master of the sacred Palace hath vnsainted him. 1655 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. i. 114 Satan's scope in accusing the Christian,..is to unsaint him, and perswade him he is but an hypocrite. 1701 Howe Some Consid. Pref. Enquiry 29 Power..to saint themselves, and unsaint all other men, at their own pleasure. 1766 Entick London IV. 123 That saint's bones being..burnt, and unsainted, by the powers in being. 1834 Southey Doctor liv. (1848) 122 Most assuredly they ought to be unsainted! 1870 Temple-Bar Mag. XXIX. 186 Young women..mutter in tender tremulous voices, which..might unsaint an anchorite. |
Hence unˈsainted ppl. a.1
| 1851 Morier Adv. Hajji Baba II. vi. 172, I marvelled how of a sudden I had become such an unsainted lion. |