savior
Americannoun
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saviors
plural
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a person who saves, rescues, or delivers.
the savior of the country.
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(initial capital letter) a title of God, especially of Christ.
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(initial capital letter) an epithet of Artemis.
Spelling
See -or 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of savior
1250–1300; Middle English saveour, sauveur < Old French sauvëour < Late Latin salvātor, equivalent to Latin salvā ( re ) to save 1 + -tor -tor
Explanation
A savior is somebody who saves you. Say you're hanging by your fingernails from the ledge of a burning building. When the firefighter appears to carry you to safety, it would be appropriate to cry, "My savior has arrived!" If you rescue the rarely seen white-fanged mudslide chameleon from extinction, wildlife enthusiasts would no doubt call you the creature's savior. Savior, with a capital S, is one of the names Christians use for Jesus, Savior of the World, Lord and Savior, the one who saves souls. As you've no doubt noticed, the word savior is connected to the word save, — both words come from the Latin salvare, which means simply "to save."
Vocabulary lists containing savior
Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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Words for Carolers
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Vocabulary Heard at the 2016 Democratic National Convention
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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:
No one seemed to enjoy having a team more than Ballmer, the former Microsoft boss who was hailed as a savior when he rescued the Donald Sterling-toxified franchise in 2014.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
There’s a second theory that might point to A.I. as our savior, though.
From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026
Dudamel had gone from rising star to star to savior, seen as the conductor who brought new vitality to everything he touched.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
We could be the go-getter, the people pleaser, the co-dependent one, or even the savior.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 27, 2026
“Say, that’s pretty cute,” he said as his savior ran toward the car.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
They flirted with free agent saviors like LeBron James and got ignored.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
But then: videos of dogs being rescued and forever grateful to their saviors.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2025
Several times in the past few decades, when park conditions deteriorated, restoration efforts were launched by assorted teams of residents, merchants, public officials, law enforcement agencies and nonprofit saviors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2024
The standard superhero narrative is failing because people no longer trust in saviors.
From Salon ● Nov. 27, 2023
To workers, Eugene Debs and Samuel Gompers came increasingly to seem like saviors, Chicago’s merchant princes like devils.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
