sacrificial

American  

[sak-ruh-fish-uhl] / ˌsæk rəˈfɪʃ əl /

adjective

1. pertaining to or concerned with sacrifice.

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sacrificial British  

/ ˌsækrɪˈfɪʃəl /

adjective

1. used in or connected with a sacrifice

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Usage

What does sacrificial mean? Sacrificial is used to describe things that involve a sacrifice—something important or precious that is given up for the sake of gaining something or allowing something to happen that is considered more important. The thing being sacrificed can be tangible, like a valued object, or intangible, like time or health, as in, I would never sacrifice my health just to make more money. The words sacrifice and sacrificial are often used in the context of religious offerings. Such a sacrifice might be an animal that is killed and offered to a god or gods. The term sacrificial lamb is a reference to such religious sacrifices and is often used in a metaphorical way to refer to someone who is sacrificed in some way for the benefit of others. The term is often used in overlapping ways with the word scapegoat. Example: Archaeologists think the site was once used for sacrificial rituals.

Other Word Forms

• nonsacrificial adjective
• oversacrificial adjective
• oversacrificially adverb
• presacrificial adjective
• sacrificially adverb
• unsacrificial adjective
• unsacrificially adverb

Etymology

Origin of sacrificial

1600–10; < Latin sacrifici ( um ) sacrifice + -al ¹

Explanation

Anything sacrificial has to do with a sacrifice. Giving up your seat for someone else is a sacrificial act. A sacrifice is something given up for the sake of others, so anything sacrificial is connected to that selfless act. In some cultures, people were once thrown in volcanoes to appease the gods: this was a sacrificial ritual, because the person's life was taken for a higher purpose. In Christianity, Jesus dying for other people's sins is a sacrificial act. Even small actions can be sacrificial if you give something up for a purpose.

Example Sentences

She intended them “to cement her status as a sacrificial figure in the image of Socrates,” Ms. Stalnaker writes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026

Christian magazine Charisma further explained that throughout the Bible, “God commands His people to ‘defend the fatherless’ and to care for orphans with compassion, justice and sacrificial love.”

From Salon • Nov. 15, 2025

There was something at once sacrificial and redemptive in what McDonald was channeling in her art, and I left the Majestic Theatre feeling reborn.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2025

She was also prone to self-pity, calling herself “a sacrificial lamb.”

From Slate • Jan. 11, 2025

Too much knowledge had hindered him; too many holy verses, too many sacrificial rites, too much mortification of the flesh, too much doing and striving.

From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse