Both Uses of
profane
in
To Kill a Mockingbird
- ...so the boys came before the probate judge on charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, and using abusive and profane language in the presence and hearing of a female.
p. 11.3 *profane = obscene (shockingly offensive by accepted standards)
- Local opinion held Mr. Underwood to be an intense, profane little man, whose father in a fey fit of humor christened Braxton Bragg, a name Mr. Underwood had done his best to live down.
p. 178.2profane = showing no respect for accepted standards of behavior
Definitions:
-
(1)
(profane as in: don't be profane) showing no respect for something thought of as sacred
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) Much more rarely profane may mean that something is not sacred or concerned with religion; or that it is not holy because it is unconsecrated, impure or defiled. As a verb it can mean to spoil something considered holy by using it in a degrading or unworthy way.