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:
She added that she felt like “everybody’s trying to crucify me” for her relationship with Combs and that she needed to “take a break and focus on what’s important” when the allegations came down.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2024
"We have had parents say they want their child to go to pre-school but it would crucify them financially," she added.
From BBC ● May 10, 2023
And to explain his reasoning, Biden used this phrase: “Never crucify yourself on a small cross.”
From Slate ● May 24, 2021
“We’re behind him 100 percent. Y’all be trying to crucify him and that ain’t right,” Leary said.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 18, 2019
“Finnegan’s here. He’ll crucify me if it looks like I’m not working.”
From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia
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
That is why the world always crucifies its Christs.
From A Dominie in Doubt by Alexander Sutherland Neill
Crucifī′er, one who crucifies; Cru′cifix, a figure or picture of Christ fixed to the cross; Crucifix′ion, death on the cross, esp. that of Christ.—adjs.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
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
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
In Greece, the sky lit up with fireworks, while worshippers in Jerusalem lit candles at the church where Jesus is said to have been crucified and buried.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2025
“We were scared to death that in the transformation from actor to politician, he would just get crucified as a guy who did everything from script,” Spencer told me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 20, 2025
Sister Loretta was still staring balefully at the crucified redeemer.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Outside the conference, protest organiser Caroline Graham told the BBC that the government's current policies were "crucifying" farmers.
From BBC ● Jan. 9, 2025
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
“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
“We didn’t have some preconceived idea about crucifying Michelle,” said John Stauffer, one of the two American studies professors.
From New York Times ● Sep. 13, 2017
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.
