Blasphemous academic — an eye-opener! (7)

I believe the answer is:

profane

'blasphemous' is the definition.
(I know that blasphemous can be written as profane)

'academic an eye-opener' is the wordplay.
'academic' becomes 'prof' (short for professor).
'opener' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letter of 'eye' is 'e'.
'prof'+'an'+'e'='PROFANE'

(Other definitions for profane that I've seen before include "Desecrate" , "Sacrilegious or blasphemous" , "vulgar" , "Blasphemous, irreligious" , "Treat with irreverence" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian and The Sun.

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