irreverent, a.
(ɪˈrɛvərənt)
Also 5 inr-.
[ad. L. in-, irreverēnt-em, f. in-, ir- (ir-2) + reverēns, -ēntem, pr. pple. of reverērī to revere. Cf. F. irrévérent (15th c.).
In OF. reverent represented L. reverēndus; hence, in English also, reverent and irreverent were orig. used in the sense of reverend, irreverend, which were of later introduction: see reverent.]
† 1. = irreverend. Obs.
| 1494 Fabyan Chron. vii. 644 To company w{supt} symple & inreuerent persones. |
2. Not reverent; wanting in reverence or veneration; showing disrespect to a sacred or venerable person or thing.
| 1550 Veron Godly Sayings (1846) 13 That no man shuld..loke in the Arke..wyth prophane & irreverente eies. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 101 Th' irreverent Son Of him who built the Ark, who for the shame Don to his Father, heard this heavie curse, Servant of Servants, on his vitious Race. 1746 Akenside Hymn Naiads 288 Of highest Jove, Irreverent. 1864 Dublin Univ. Mag. 612 ‘Parker is an old hunks’, was the irreverent reply. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. Notes 281 The irreverent irony of Mephistopheles. |