SACRED

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sacred mean? 

• SACRED (adjective)
  The adjective SACRED has 5 senses:

1. concerned with religion or religious purposes

2. worthy of respect or dedication

3. made or declared or believed to be holy; devoted to a deity or some religious ceremony or use

4. worthy of religious veneration

5. (often followed by 'to') devoted exclusively to a single use or purpose or person

  Familiarity information: SACRED used as an adjective is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SACRED (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Concerned with religion or religious purposes

Context example:

sacred music

Similar:

inspirational (imparting a divine influence on the mind and soul)

taboo; tabu (forbidden to profane use especially in South Pacific islands)

sacral (of or relating to sacred rites)

reverend; sublime (worthy of adoration or reverence)

religious; spiritual (concerned with sacred matters or religion or the church)

quasi-religious (resembling something that is religious)

numinous (evincing the presence of a deity)

inviolable; inviolate; sacrosanct (must be kept sacred)

ineffable; unnameable; unspeakable; unutterable (too sacred to be uttered)

divine (devoted to or in the service or worship of a deity)

Also:

pious (having or showing or expressing reverence for a deity)

heavenly (of or belonging to heaven or god)

consecrate; consecrated; dedicated (solemnly dedicated to or set apart for a high or sacred purpose)

Antonym:

profane (not concerned with or devoted to religion)

Derivation:

sacredness (the quality of being sacred)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Worthy of respect or dedication

Context example:

saw motherhood as woman's sacred calling

Similar:

worthy (having worth or merit or value; being honorable or admirable)

Derivation:

sacredness (the quality of being sacred)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Made or declared or believed to be holy; devoted to a deity or some religious ceremony or use

Synonyms:

consecrated; sacred; sanctified

Context example:

sanctified wine

Similar:

holy (belonging to or derived from or associated with a divine power)

Derivation:

sacredness (the quality of being sacred)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Worthy of religious veneration

Synonyms:

hallowed; sacred

Context example:

Jerusalem's hallowed soil

Similar:

holy (belonging to or derived from or associated with a divine power)

Derivation:

sacredness (the quality of being sacred)

Sense 5

Meaning:

(often followed by 'to') devoted exclusively to a single use or purpose or person

Context example:

a private office sacred to the President

Similar:

dedicated (devoted to a cause or ideal or purpose)

Derivation:

sacredness (the quality of being sacred)

 Context examples 

I felt as if I had come into the knowledge of those domestic weaknesses and tendernesses in a sacred confidence, and that to disclose them, even to Steerforth, would be wrong.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

But worst of all, it makes me question love, sacred love.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

We must sterilise this earth, so sacred of holy memories, that he has brought from a far distant land for such fell use.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I charge you by all that is sacred, not to attempt concealment.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Nothing is sacred to him, nothing is too terrible for him to do.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

But that heart is already laid on a sacred altar: the fire is arranged round it.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The night parrot is sacred to First Nation peoples, and experts say Australia now has a second chance to save a bird that was once thought to have died out.

(Aboriginal Rangers Find Evidence of One of Australia’s Rarest Birds, VOA)

He had driven his teeth into the sacred flesh of one of them, and could expect nothing but a most terrible punishment.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I found myself mechanically bowing and shaking hands with a little ginger-haired man who was coiled up in the deep arm-chair which had once been sacred to my own use.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And, hark ye, you will avoid debt, and bear in mind that your honour is a sacred thing.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)