sacredsa‧cred /ˈseɪkrɪd/ ●●○ adjective 
a sacred vow the miraculous powers of sacred relics Certain animals were considered sacred.sacred to The land is sacred to these tribesmen.► see thesaurus at religious2very important or greatly respected: Human life is sacred. Frontiers which have held for over forty years are no longer sacred.sacred to Few things were sacred to Henry, but local history was one of them. He had no respect for everything I held sacred.3is nothing sacred? spoken used to express shock when something you think is valuable or important is being changed or harmed—sacredness noun [uncountable]: the sacredness of human life
WORD ORIGINsacred
Origin:
1300-1400 Past participle of sacre ‘to make holy’ (13-17 centuries), from Old French sacrer, from Latin sacrare, from sacer ‘holy’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- sacred rites
- sacred writings
- a choir specialising in sacred music
- Certain animals were considered sacred by the Aztecs.
- Our time at home with our kids is sacred.
- The Japanese regard Mount Fuji as a sacred mountain.
- the miraculous power of sacred relics
- The olive tree was regarded as sacred to the goddess Athena.
- These burial grounds are sacred to the Native Americans.
- In the public interest view also, regulators perform their allotted tasks as a sacred trust.
- Like most everyone else in this country, I learned early on that the flag is a sacred symbol.
- Other cities also had noble temples; none had such a splendid facade to its whole sacred area.
- Religion is the human enterprise by which a sacred cosmos is established.
- The monotheistic order required that the feminine should be barred from the sphere of power, which coincided with the sacred.
- We could eat all the sacred dirt on earth, but still those who loved to make war would make war.
THESAURUSrelating to religion
relating to religion: · the country's religious leaders· the importance of religious freedom
relating to matters of the human spirit, rather than the physical world: · The Dalai Lamai is the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet.· We tend to ignore people's spiritual needs, and focus too much on material things.· spiritual values
[usually before noun] connected with God and religion, and therefore treated in a special way – used especially in the following phrases: · the Holy Bible· the holy city of Mecca· a Hindu holy man· They believe they are fighting a holy war.· The priest puts some holy water on the child's head.
connected with God and religion, and therefore treated in a special way – used especially in the following phrases: · This place is sacred to both Jews and Muslims.· In India, cows are considered sacred.· the Hindu sacred texts· sacred music· a sacred ritual
relating to the study of religion or to religious beliefs: · a theological debate· theological training
not relating to religion or controlled by a religious authority: · secular education· secular matters· In the UK we live in a much more secular society.
[usually before noun] connected with God and religion, and therefore treated in a special way – used especially in the following phrases: · the Holy Bible· the holy city of Mecca· a Hindu holy man· They believe they are fighting a holy war.· The priest puts some holy water on the child’s head.
connected with God and religion, and therefore treated in a special way – used especially in the following phrases: · This place is sacred to both Jews and Muslims.· In India, cows are considered sacred.· the Hindu sacred texts· sacred music· a sacred ritual
relating to or coming from God: · the divine right of kings· divine justice· divine providence· Human love should be a reflection of divine love, and so not be selfish or cruel.
relating to the soul, the spirit, and religion, and not with physical things or ordinary human activities: · Your spiritual life is far more important than any material things you could acquire.· the spiritual leader of the Tibetans
a hallowed place is considered to be very holy: · He was buried in hallowed ground.· The Golden Temple is Sikhism’s most hallowed shrine.
made holy by God – used especially about saints: · the blessed Virgin Mary
Longman Language Activatorrelating to religion · Religious education is compulsory in all English schools.· All acts of religious worship were banned.· The tutor discussed her own religious beliefs openly with the students.· Record companies feared the album might cause offence to people on religious grounds.· The walls were decorated with religious symbols.· a religious festival
connected with God and religion, and therefore treated in a special way, or thought to have special qualities or powers: · Jerusalem is a holy city for Jews, Christians, and Muslims.· In Islam, only the Qur'an is considered holy.· the holy month of Ramadan· The priest sprinkled each member of the congregation with holy water.
connected with the soul, the spirit, and religion, and not with physical things or ordinary human activities: · She came seeking spiritual guidance.· the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people· Just as the emotional needs of the mentally disabled are overlooked, so too are their spiritual needs.· The last sacrament represents the final step in Christ's spiritual journey.
very holy and therefore treated with great respect: · a choir specialising in sacred music· the miraculous power of sacred relicsconsider something sacred/regard something as sacred: · The Japanese regard Mount Fuji as a sacred mountain.· Certain animals were considered sacred by the Aztecs.· The olive tree was regarded as sacred to the goddess Athena.
connected with or coming from God: · He offered a brief prayer for divine guidance.· The death of a child is commonly seen by members of the tribe as divine punishment.
involving or run by people or a particular religion - use this especially about schools and official religious groups: · The vast majority of people in the UK are opposed to more faith-based schools, saying they would be socially divisive.· Community leaders and those involved in faith organizations met to discuss what could be done about the recent disturbances.
WORD SETSacolyte, nounafterlife, nounagnostic, nounangel, nounanimism, nounanoint, verbapostasy, nounapostate, nounarchangel, nounbelieve, verbbeliever, nounbell-ringer, nounbless, verbblessed, adjectiveblessing, nouncelebrant, nounChristian Science, nouncircumcise, verbcircumcision, nouncommunion, nounconfession, nounconvent, nounconversion, nounconvert, nouncoreligionist, nouncowl, nouncredo, nouncreed, nouncult, noundaemon, nounDecalogue, noundefrock, verbdeism, noundenomination, noundenominational, adjectivedevotee, noundevotion, noundevotional, adjectivedevout, adjectivedivine, adjectivedivinity, noundruid, nounfaith, nounfast day, nounfeast, nounfervour, nounfiesta, nounfollow, verbfrankincense, noungentile, noungod, noungoddess, noungrace, nounhabit, nounhair shirt, nounhallelujah, interjectionhallowed, adjectivehalo, nounheathen, adjectiveheathen, nounheaven, nounheavenly, adjectivehell, nounheresy, nounheretic, nounhermit, nounhermitage, nounheterodox, adjectivehigh priest, nounidol, nounidolatry, nounincarnation, nounincense, nouninfidel, nounintercession, nouninvocation, nouninvoke, verbirreligious, adjective-ism, suffixlayman, nounlaywoman, nounlibation, nounliturgical, adjectiveliturgy, nounmartyr, nounmartyr, verbmeditate, verbmeditation, nounmission, nounmonastery, nounmonastic, adjectivemonk, nounmonotheism, nounMoonie, nounMormon, nounMosaic, adjectivemystery play, nounmystic, nounmystical, adjectivemysticism, nounneophyte, nounnovice, nounnovitiate, nounnuminous, adjectivenun, nounnunnery, nounoblation, nounobservance, nounoffering, nounOlympian, adjectiveordain, verborder, nounorthodox, adjectiveotherworldly, adjectivepagan, adjectivepagan, nounpantheism, nounpantheon, nounParsee, nounpilgrim, nounpilgrimage, nounpious, adjectivepluralism, nounpolytheism, nounpractise, verbpray, verbprayer, nounprayer wheel, nounpreach, verbpreacher, nounpriest, nounpriestess, nounpriesthood, nounpriestly, adjectiveprophet, nounprophetess, nounpurify, verbRasta, nounRastafarian, nounRastaman, nounRE, nounrecant, verbreincarnation, nounreligious, adjectivereligiously, adverbreliquary, nounrepent, verbretreat, nounrevelation, nounrevivalism, nounrite, nounritual, nounsacred, adjectivesacrifice, nounsacrifice, verbsacrificial, adjectivesanctify, verbsanctity, nounsanctuary, nounsanctum, nounsatanism, nounscripture, nounsect, nounsectarian, adjectiveservice, nounshaman, nounShinto, nounshrine, nounsin, nounsin, verbsinful, adjectivesinner, nounsoul, nounspirit, nounspiritual, adjectivespiritualism, nounspirituality, nounSr, sun god, nounsuppliant, nounsupplicant, nounsupplication, nounSupreme Being, nounTao, nounTaoism, nountemple, nountenet, nounthanksgiving, nountheism, nountheo-, prefixtheocracy, nountheologian, nountheological college, nountheology, nountonsure, nountranscendental, adjectivetranscendental meditation, nountransmigration, noununbelief, noununbeliever, nounungodly, adjectiveunholy, adjectiveunorthodox, adjectivevisionary, nounvoodoo, nounvotary, nounworship, verbworship, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY He had no respect for everything I held sacred.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
He had no respect for everything I held sacred. (=considered holy)· Mount Fuji is a sacred mountain.
(=one you swear by God)· Stephen swore a sacred oath to recognise Matilda as Queen.
(=a place that is important in a religion)· Ayers Rock is the most sacred site of the Aborigines.
· When we get married in church we are making sacred vows.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Probably different kinds of trees were regarded as sacred.· The United States sees intellectual property rights as sacred, said Thomas Klitgaard, an attorney specializing in international law.· Humanity isn't as sacred as it likes to think.· This has become almost as sacred as the first amendment right of free speech.· My own position would also be called into question, as I regard Sunday as sacred.· Each tribe responded and became attached to its own specific landscape, seeing particular lakes and trees as sacred.· Yet these texts are read as sacred texts.
· Much later, the perehera was adopted by the Buddhists to display their most sacred relic.· Medieval texts refer to it as one of the fifty-one most sacred places for Hindus.· More than 800 men died and their bodies still lie in what has become Britain's most sacred maritime war grave.· A most sacred obligation was bound up with a most atrocious crime.· This was the most sacred part of the cathedral and also of the castle itself.· It means challenging some of the most sacred myths about public schooling.· You call silly the most sacred moment between a man and a woman?· They were most sacred days, when much of the ordinary business of life was suspended.
NOUN· She travelled in a chariot drawn by cats, the latter being her sacred animal symbol and familiars.· His sacred animals were the ram and the goose.· The ram was also one of the sacred animals of Amun.
· The juxtaposition of their love-making against Bishop Casey performing his sacred duties will do more than shock.· So it was a husband's sacred duty not to refuse her on that day even if he were practising celibacy.· But the priestly role was not finished, and their equally sacred duty of reading and explaining the law remained.· And nothing must threaten this sacred duty.
· They married, had children, and tended the sacred fire.· A sacred fire is protected by small, round stones.
· All the principles of sacred geometry were applied in their construction.
· As a description of a sacred grove, with its legends, character and atmosphere, this is hard to better!· I am in the sacred grove with a priestess in the last surviving matriarchal, communal culture on earth.· I believe the Druid sacred groves to have been functionally identical with, and a direct continuity of, ley mark-clumps.· Then taking her on board they went where she directed and reached the sacred grove where the Fleece hung.· The servants had unpacked the picnic hampers, filling the sacred grove with roasted chickens, quails, and potted shrimps.· The sacred grove is our sanctuary, our temple.· Black-armoured warriors burned the sacred groves.
· Moreover he enjoyed sacred music too.· In May 1893, he conducted a special service of sacred music here at Halling, assisted by his wife.· His sacred music, songs and string sonatas have been recorded and testify to the breadth of his artistry.· Universities and Colleges Academic studies in university music faculties often pay considerable attention to sacred music from the Early and Renaissance periods.
· We understand how deeply people can become attached to sacred objects.· Before we started, nuclear bombs were sacred objects.
· Sometimes they stand in for a deity, haunting the sacred places and occupying a position midway between gods and men.· The Gypsy expressed shock that I could tell such a fib, especially in this sacred place.· No one but the officiating priest was allowed to approach this most sacred place.· Medieval texts refer to it as one of the fifty-one most sacred places for Hindus.· Can it be by chance that mankind's sacred places are almost always spaces where echoed are heard to particularly good effect?· Originally I conceived of this book as a series of journeys to sacred places.· He became more famous when he moved to Walden Pond, which he saw as a kind of sacred place.· Still, there is a way that science has helped to amputate our understanding of the world as a sacred place.
· Much later, the perehera was adopted by the Buddhists to display their most sacred relic.· They were thus especially suitable to guard sacred relics and great sanctuaries.
· He was celebrated there as a martyr, and his grave became a shrine, a sacred site, a pilgrimage centre.· In fact, I am looking forward to seeing my sacred site anew.· This began to promote excessive erosion and Aboriginal concerns relating to infringements of their sacred sites which abound in the region.· Explorer-anthropologist Martin Gray has spent 12 years wandering through 800 sacred sites scattered around the globe.· Ley hunters today answer as Watkins himself did, by suggesting the evolution of sacred sites.
· These taboos against women as polluting to male sacred space are very ancient.· But the principles for planning a sacred space are the same, Price said.· All haunted by the sense of a sacred space, a sacred time.· All of this is contained in the sacred space unfurled by the telling of the myth.
· Yet these texts are read as sacred texts.· Building anew on the old sacred texts, these innovations brought a spiritual renewal to every major faith.· And, oh yes, a full-scale Martian invasion has been added to the sacred text.· Messing around with sacred texts is against their religious law.· Job descriptions became their sacred texts, for they were considered the workers' protection against exploitation.
· I imagined solemn covens chanting, straggling torchlight processions winding up to mountain tops, stone circles, sacred trees and springs.· It is used in respect of sacred trees, shrines, etc., and is performed as an act of reverence or respect.· This, he explained, was a sacred tree.· The Mochlos ring shows a sacred tree growing out of the shrine being ferried along on the priestess's ship.
· In the public interest view also, regulators perform their allotted tasks as a sacred trust.· For her, the designation of godparent is a sacred trust.· They were, in a sense, a sacred trust.· The Sky People allowed the Navajos to memorize each one as a sacred trust for healing purposes.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY
1relating to a god or religion: - Look at how those girls are dressed! Is nothing sacred anymore?
- Some countries operate five-year plans but there is nothing sacred about this length of time.
a sacred vow the miraculous powers of sacred relics Certain animals were considered sacred.sacred to The land is sacred to these tribesmen.► see thesaurus at religious2very important or greatly respected: Human life is sacred. Frontiers which have held for over forty years are no longer sacred.sacred to Few things were sacred to Henry, but local history was one of them. He had no respect for everything I held sacred.3is nothing sacred? spoken used to express shock when something you think is valuable or important is being changed or harmed—sacredness noun [uncountable]: the sacredness of human life