spared

[spaird]

adjective

1. left intact; not damaged, punished, destroyed, killed, etc..

   After a seven-month siege they captured the city, and the spared captives were taken into exile.

   After a brain injury in early childhood, language function is typically transferred to the spared hemisphere.

2. dispensed with or done without.

   I finally obtained a little ready money by converting some easily spared articles of jewelry into cash.

3. used frugally or not used; withheld; not spent.

   At no spared effort or expense, the enhanced design protocol has been applied to all the products in our new lineup.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of spare.

Other Word Forms

• unspared adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of spared¹

First recorded in 1575–85; spare ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; spare ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

Justice Kennedy might have spared the country a prolonged fit of insanity by plumping the other way in Obergefell and letting voters hash out the issue themselves.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Barry Josephson, a Hollywood producer whose home near the fire’s origin was among a few spared total destruction, said “it’s very satisfying that a culprit will be brought to justice.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Footage verified by the BBC shows drones hitting what looks to be a location near a military site, but also an informal market - civilians are not spared.

Read more on BBC

Earlier this year, he said he would run as an independent - a move that spared him from the competitive Democratic primary, which was won by Mamdani.

Read more on BBC

Few departments within SSA have been spared — not even the office tasked with helping members of Congress assist their constituents with Social Security issues and helping to develop legislation.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• immune