spared
Americanadjective
-
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.
-
dispensed with or done without.
I finally obtained a little ready money by converting some easily spared articles of jewelry into cash.
-
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
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of spared
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But as we drove further into the village it dawned on us just how many of the bright white Andalusian homes had seemingly been spared.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
MILWAUKEE—A former Wisconsin state judge was spared prison on Wednesday after being convicted of obstructing federal agents seeking to arrest an immigrant who appeared in her courtroom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Citing a series of violent crimes that followed criminal defendants being spared of convictions due to diagnosed mental illnesses, state lawmakers have pushed forward legislation backed by California prosecutors to limit who can qualify.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
“No expense was spared in the renovation of French Ivy House. Everything was custom-designed,” Ellis, who owns Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty in Nyack, N.Y., previously told Realtor.com.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026
If he would shed a bucket of tears for Bandit, perhaps her life would be spared.
From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord
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.
