crucify
Americanverb (used with object)
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crucifies,
present (3rd person singular)
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crucified,
past participle, past
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crucifying
present participle
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to put to death by nailing or binding the hands and feet to a cross.
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to treat with gross injustice; persecute; torment; torture.
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to subdue (passion, sin, etc.).
verb
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to put to death by crucifixion
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slang to defeat, ridicule, etc, totally
the critics crucified his performance
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to treat very cruelly; torment
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to subdue (passion, lust, etc); mortify
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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crucifysimple
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crucifiessimple
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have crucifiedperfect
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has crucifiedperfect
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am crucifyingprogressive
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are crucifyingprogressive
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is crucifyingprogressive
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have been crucifyingperfect progressive
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has been crucifyingperfect progressive
Past
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crucifiedsimple
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had crucifiedperfect
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was crucifyingprogressive
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were crucifyingprogressive
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had been crucifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of crucify
Middle English crucifien < Anglo-French, Old French crucifier < Latin crucifīgere, equivalent to Latin cruci- (stem of crux ) cross + fīgere to fix, bind fast
Vocabulary lists containing crucify
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:
Widower Reg Harris, 85, said giving up driving would "absolutely crucify" his lifestyle.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2025
“I thought they were gonna crucify me!” said Massry.
From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2024
“I told him: ‘I’m praying for you but we need you, so don’t crucify yourself,’” the sister, Ms. Syombua, said.
From New York Times ● May 14, 2023
Nazaryan seemingly was trying to crucify the author rather than giving a solid review of the book.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2021
“He does even worse things than crucify people,” Oscar tells us one time.
From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez
I was born for the purpose that crucifies your mind,
From New York Times ● Apr. 28, 2023
James Glickson New York City It is sacrificial slaughter when society crucifies its best leaders on a cross of impossibly high standards.
From Time Magazine Archive
He crucifies the natural life with Christ, and creates the new man in Christ Jesus.
From Days of Heaven Upon Earth by A. B. (Albert B.) Simpson
And the fact is, he follows desire when he crucifies it.
From Happiness and Marriage by Elizabeth Towne
The leader who preaches things out of comprehension arouses the kind of opposition which finally crucifies him.
From The Foundations of Personality by Abraham Myerson
Peter Moody's daughter Joanne Moody, 48, who is expected to join other families wronged by Bush in the court's public gallery, said: "It's broke me, it's crucified me. He has shown no remorse. No sympathy."
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Even the thief crucified alongside him, in the final minutes of his life, with nothing to offer and everything to repent, received the same promise: today you will be with me in paradise.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
Israeli security forces imposed restrictions on access to the Holy Sepulchre in annexed east Jerusalem, where Christians believe Jesus Christ was crucified, buried and rose from the dead.
From Barron's ● Apr. 5, 2026
“Madame Web” underperformed in the theaters because the press just crucified it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 26, 2024
Sister Loretta was still staring balefully at the crucified redeemer.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Drake's music sounds more in line with the current culture so persistent in crucifying women for their mere existence or agency.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2023
“It was the most crucifying pain,” Mr. Nadery recalled.
From New York Times ● Dec. 24, 2021
"The open-close strategy is crucifying businesses," he added.
From BBC ● Dec. 21, 2021
“Instead of out-casting and almost crucifying a personality, you say: ‘Okay, this guy is different, let’s act a certain way, let’s not treat him like a Roger Federer or like a Marin Cilic.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 2, 2021
The letter to the editor crucifying her husband had hurt her terribly.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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.
