sanctified
Americanadjective
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consecrated or made holy
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a less common word for sanctimonious
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sanctified
Explanation
Something that's sanctified is blessed or holy. In many religions, buildings, objects, and people can be sanctified. A sanctified chalice of wine and sanctified wafers are used in many churches' Holy Communion (or Eucharist) rites. To believers, this means that these things have been blessed by God. Sometimes this adjective describes something that is merely acceptable or respectable, like your brother's sanctified behavior at the dinner table. The Latin root of sanctified is sanctus, "holy."
Vocabulary lists containing sanctified
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.
No one should ever be above skepticism no matter how sanctified and righteous they may seem — that’s why the New York Times investigation crashed into the Chicano collective sense of self like a meteor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2026
Not Section 60, where the atmosphere is sanctified but not somber—too many kids, Meredith recalled from her visits to her son’s burial site.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2024
“Here, communication between man and God takes place,” said Lyngdoh, a descendant of the priestly clan which sanctified the Mawphlang forest.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2024
The family-friendly circus act “White Gold,” presented by the Cambodian Circus ensemble Phare and playing now at New Victory Theater, details the nation’s inextricable link to the sanctified crop.
From New York Times ● Dec. 15, 2023
This feat requires what the early-twentieth-century American writer Sinclair Lewis called a “willingness to sift the sanctified lies,” a chore that is hard enough when the “lie” is trivial.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
