Calvary
noun
Golgotha, the place where Jesus was crucified.
Calvary
American
[kal-vuh-ree]
/ ˈkæl və ri /
noun
-
Calvaries
plural
-
Bible. Golgotha, the place where Jesus was crucified.
-
Often calvary a sculptured representation of the Crucifixion, usually erected in the open air.
-
none calvary an experience or occasion of extreme suffering, especially mental suffering.
Calvary
1
British
/ ˈkælvərɪ /
noun
calvary
2
British
/ ˈkælvərɪ /
noun
-
(often capital) a representation of Christ's crucifixion, usually sculptured and in the open air
-
any experience involving great suffering
Calvary
Cultural
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
But two of the state’s top GOP contenders were among the five candidates who appeared Saturday afternoon at a “Patriots for Freedom” gubernatorial forum at Calvary Chapel WestGrove in Orange County.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2026
Francie believed with all her heart that the altar was Calvary and that again Jesus was offered up as a sacrifice.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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
Had you but used your eyes on the way hither they might have counted old vine-stocks by the score; they lie this way and that amid the heather on either side of the calvary.
From Merry-Garden and Other Stories by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
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
We passed by the Calvaries which keep guard over the Meuse villages, a few trees gathered round the cross.
From Letters of a Soldier 1914-1915 by André Chevrillon
The Bretons are commonly accredited as being a most devout race, and certainly devotion could take no more marked turn than the many evidences here to be seen in this "land of Calvaries."
From The Cathedrals of Northern France by Blanche McManus
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
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.
