Meaning & use
sacrifice
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
Something valuable that you give up or go without so that someone or something else can benefit.
Grammar: Often plural: make sacrifices. Used with for or of: sacrifices for the family.
Patterns
- make a sacrifice for someone
- sacrifice of something
Her parents made many sacrifices so she could attend college.
Winning the title required a great sacrifice of free time.
He called the sacrifice worthwhile.
nouncountable or uncountablereligion
The offering of an animal or object to a god, or the thing offered, in a religious ceremony.
Grammar: Used in religious and historical contexts.
Patterns
- a sacrifice to someone
Ancient peoples made a sacrifice to the harvest god.
The temple ruins include an altar used for sacrifice.
The story describes a sacrifice offered at dawn.
verbtransitive
To give up something valued in order to get something more important or help someone.
Grammar: Takes an object, often followed by for or to do: sacrifice sleep for study.
Patterns
- sacrifice something for something
- sacrifice something to do something
She sacrificed her weekends to finish the project.
Some firms sacrifice quality for speed.
He would sacrifice anything for his children.
verbtransitivereligion
To kill an animal or person, or offer an object, as a religious offering.
Grammar: Used in religious and historical contexts.
Patterns
- sacrifice something to someone
The priests sacrificed a lamb to the gods.
Villagers sacrificed the first fruits of the harvest.
The myth tells of a king who sacrificed his own son.
Word forms
| plural | sacrifices |
|---|---|
| third person singular | sacrifices |
| past tense | sacrificed |
| past participle | sacrificed |
| -ing form | sacrificing |
Common combinations
- make a sacrifice
- We all had to make sacrifices during the lean years.
- personal sacrifice
- The nurses showed great personal sacrifice.
- great sacrifice
- The soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice.
- sacrifice for
- She sacrificed her own comfort for her team.
- sacrifice something to
- He will not sacrifice safety to save a few dollars.
- human sacrifice
- Some ancient cultures practiced human sacrifice.
Synonyms and how they differ
- give up
- Give up is the casual phrasal verb, and it need not imply that you gave something up for a greater good.
- forgo
- Forgo means to do without something, and it is more formal and less emotional than sacrifice.
- surrender
- Surrender suggests being forced to give up, while sacrifice is a choice.
- offering
- Offering is the religious or generous gift and does not necessarily involve loss.
Opposites
Word family
- sacrificial adjective
- relating to or used in a sacrifice
- sacrificially adverb
- in a way that involves giving up something
- self-sacrifice noun
- giving up your own interests for others
- sacrificer noun
- a person who makes an offering, rare
Commonly confused: sacrifice or sacrilege?
sacrifice vs sacrilege
Sacrilege means treating something sacred with disrespect; it is not the act of giving something up.
Practice
The family ____ their summer holiday so that they could pay for their daughter's tuition.
Choose one answer.
Sacrificed means gave up something valued for a more important purpose. Postponed would only delay it, and celebrated and earned do not fit the sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sacrifice”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.