immolate

American  

[im-uh-leyt] / ˈɪm əˌleɪt /

verb (used with object)

• immolates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• immolated,
  past participle,  past
• immolating
  present participle

1. to sacrifice.

2. to kill as a sacrificial victim, as by fire; offer in sacrifice.

3. to destroy by fire.

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immolate British  

/ ˈɪməʊˌleɪt /

verb

1. to kill or offer as a sacrifice, esp by fire

2. literary to sacrifice (something highly valued)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• immolation
  noun
• immolator
  noun
• unimmolated
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• immolating
  present
• immolated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• immolate
  simple
• immolates
  simple
• have immolated
  perfect
• has immolated
  perfect
• am immolating
  progressive
• are immolating
  progressive
• is immolating
  progressive
• have been immolating
  perfect progressive
• has been immolating
  perfect progressive

Past

• immolated
  simple
• had immolated
  perfect
• was immolating
  progressive
• were immolating
  progressive
• had been immolating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will immolate
  simple
• will have immolated
  perfect
• will be immolating
  progressive
• will have been immolating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of immolate

1540–50; < Latin immolātus, past participle of immolāre to sprinkle with holy meal prior to sacrificing, sacrifice, equivalent to im- im- ¹ + mol ( a ) sacrificial barley cake, literally, millstone ( see mill ¹) + -ātus -ate ¹

Explanation

Immolate is a verb that means to destroy something or someone, usually using fire, as a sacrifice to a higher cause. Do not try this at home. To protest the Vietnam War, some Buddhist monks would pour gasoline on their body, light a match, and immolate themselves, hoping that their fiery death would bring attention to the horror of war. The word comes from the Latin immolare, which means “sprinkled with sacrificial meal,” in reference to rituals where wheat grain would be sprinkled on the heads of human sacrifices. Immolation is a powerful statement, but talking it out is always a safer and less depressing option.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

immolate immolates immolated immolating

Sichuan peppercorns that paralyze the lips and turn speech to a burr, and Thai bird chilies that immolate everything they touch.

From New York Times ● Nov. 10, 2017

The Mysore masala dosa, as you’d expect, comes densely packed with a turmeric-tinted potato filling ignited with a chile-garlic chutney that threatens to immolate the dish.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 12, 2017

Holt, now 56, is being called in to smooth over a crisis again, because no one at NBC imagined Williams' career at the network would immolate the way it did.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2015

Then her eyes flash with a look that could almost immolate you, and she gives you a tongue lashing that stings for days.

From MSNBC ● Feb. 11, 2015

It was probably just peaceful despair and relief at final and complete abnegation, now that Judith was about to immolate the frustration’s vicarious recompense into the living fairy tale.

From "Absalom, Absalom!" by William Faulkner

Social media runs on the righteous anger such betrayals can activate and, along with its more toxic cousins, that anger immolates most attempts at nuance.

From Salon ● Apr. 2, 2026

Hoping that she can learn the Fireman's secret to Dragonscale before she immolates or has her baby, Harper sets out into the New England forest with her rescuer.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2016

"Who will tell me what it is?" said the Count; "who will exhibit it to my eyes? who will show me the phantom which robs me of name and fame, and secretly immolates my honor?"

From The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 3, October, 1851 by Various

At thirty he coldly immolates the repose and happiness of the woman who loves him to the slightest necessity.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, December 18, 1841 by Various

This mission is at once splendid and cruel; simultaneously it exalts and revolts; for the spasm through which we are passing wounds us and immolates us!...

From The Forerunners by Romain Rolland

Bankman-Fried’s personal fortune has been immolated over only a few days of turmoil.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2022

My love of all things charred, blackened, browned and otherwise immolated runs deep.

From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2022

Still, to avoid the possibility of the spread of disease, any deer that occasionally swim onto the island are killed and immolated.

From New York Times ● Sep. 14, 2016

That idea had defined or immolated other campaigns; Kasich, who worked for Lehman Brothers after his stint in the House of Representatives, might be especially vulnerable to attack.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 4, 2015

It is not important whether this hero be called Leonidas or d'Assas, whether the immolated sage be called Socrates or Bailly.

From Lectures on the true, the beautiful and the good by Victor Cousin

She was spicy without immolating her targets, respectful without feeling phony or fawning.

From Salon ● Jan. 6, 2025

It can feel both misty and assertive, partly because of the way his effects pedals create something hot and threatening, as if he’s immolating his own notes as soon as they arrive.

From New York Times ● Mar. 20, 2018

Yes, Emma Stone, Ms. Miller’s immediate predecessor in the role, was sensational, an immolating fireball of neurosis and vanity.

From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2015

And Henry later told us, 'God only knows what His Holiness thought, seeing the American Secretary of Defense immolating himself, and the entire American party applauding the fact.'

From Time ● Feb. 4, 2010

From that day the remembrance of the Crucified One, the thought of the love which had triumphed in immolating itself, became the very center of his religious life, the soul of his soul.

From A Handful of Stars Texts That Have Moved Great Minds by Frank Boreham