sacrificial
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What does sacrificial mean? Sacrificial is used to describe things that involve a sacrifice—something important or precious that is given up for the sake of gaining something or allowing something to happen that is considered more important.The thing being sacrificed can be tangible, like a valued object, or intangible, like time or health, as in, I would never sacrifice my health just to make more money.The words sacrifice and sacrificial are often used in the context of religious offerings. Such a sacrifice might be an animal that is killed and offered to a god or gods.The term sacrificial lamb is a reference to such religious sacrifices and is often used in a metaphorical way to refer to someone who is sacrificed in some way for the benefit of others. The term is often used in overlapping ways with the word scapegoat.Example: Archaeologists think the site was once used for sacrificial rituals.
Other Word Forms
- nonsacrificial adjective
- oversacrificial adjective
- oversacrificially adverb
- presacrificial adjective
- sacrificially adverb
- unsacrificial adjective
- unsacrificially adverb
Etymology
Origin of sacrificial
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.
She intended them “to cement her status as a sacrificial figure in the image of Socrates,” Ms. Stalnaker writes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026
The limits of human understanding are probed as a sacrificial figure challenges the inscrutable order of the universe.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 13, 2025
And that in order to correct for that mistake, you need to be sacrificial.
From Slate • Jun. 24, 2025
This he called "sacrificial land in some locations to allow to flood so that communities don't flood downstream, for example".
From BBC • Dec. 18, 2024
But in my case of sacrificial effort I was thwarted.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
