Calvary
Americannoun
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Calvaries
plural
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Bible. Golgotha, the place where Jesus was crucified.
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Often calvary a sculptured representation of the Crucifixion, usually erected in the open air.
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none calvary an experience or occasion of extreme suffering, especially mental suffering.
noun
noun
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(often capital) a representation of Christ's crucifixion, usually sculptured and in the open air
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any experience involving great suffering
Pronunciation
See irrelevant.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Calvary
First recorded before 1000; from Late Latin Calvāria “Calvary,” from Latin calvāria “a skull,” used to translate Greek kraníon cranium, itself a translation of the Aramaic name; see Golgotha
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Pioneer Park used to be Calvary cemetery once upon a time.
From Salon ● May 9, 2026
Actor Gary Lydon who starred in films such as Calvary, The Guard and The Banshees of Inisherin, has died aged 61.
From BBC ● May 3, 2026
At the Calvary Baptist Church in Minneapolis, the doors swung open and shut as locals sought refuge from the biting cold on Sunday.
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2026
At Calvary Christian School, a teacher told The Times they were surprised by the speed of the Palisades fire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2025
The dim Chapel of Calvary held a mournful mural of Jesus lying arms outspread and dead on the cross after it was taken down and laid on the ground.
From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye
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Ms. Haley arrived at the high school with her own calvary.
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2024
Jessie Sheehan, on the other hand, skips the oats and calls in pecans, and a calvary of spices including ginger and nutmeg.
From Salon ● Nov. 12, 2022
But the calvary also isn’t coming — not yet, anyway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2022
His calvary - his enemies would say "deceit" - goes back to 2006.
From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2016
This calvary, executed in Kersanton stone, is dated 1610; the numerous figures are all in the grotesque costume of the period, with ruffs, toquets, trained gowns, and scalloped jackets.
From Brittany & Its Byways by Mrs. Bury Palliser
Dangerous passions of pride, hatred and selfishness are enthroned in our lives; truth lies prostrate on the rugged hills of nameless Calvaries.
From Time Magazine Archive
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They were the Calvaries of a new redemption being wrought out for men by soiled unconscious Christs.
From The Glory of the Trenches by Coningsby Dawson
Only one hand of the Christ there had been burned, and the body hanging on the Cross was unscathed, like so many of those Calvaries which I have seen in shell-fired places.
From From Bapaume to Passchendaele, 1917 by Philip Gibbs
Perhaps the cheapest Continental tour, of say three weeks, that could be taken, amid a constantly changing environment, if one so choose, would comprehend this land of Calvaries.
From The Cathedrals of Northern France by Blanche McManus
And I was shown in that Vision the Calvaries of maternity common to all, whether the conception be immaculate, so-called if within the law, or maculate, so-called if without the law.
From A Cry in the Wilderness by Mary E. (Mary Ella) Waller
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