sacred

comparative more sacred · superlative most sacred

1. Characterized by solemn religious ceremony or religious use, especially, in a positive sense; consecrated, made holy.

   a sacred day

   5 more examples

   a sacred place

   sacred service

   In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure-dome decree: / Where Alph, the sacred river, ran / Through caverns measureless to man / Down to a sunless sea.

   1797, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Kubla Khan: Or A Vision in a Dream”, in Christabel: Kubla Khan, a Vision: The Pains of Sleep, London: […] John Murray, […], by William Bulmer and Co. […], published 1816, →OCLC, page 55

   In doing this I particularly instructed my informant to tell his tale as if he were relating it to his own people, and to use the same words that he would use if he were recounting similar tales to them when assembled in a sacred house.

   1882, Edward Shortland, Maori Religion and Mythology

   The cross is that high symbol of sacred service, the devotion of one's life to the welfare and salvation of one's fellows. The cross is not the symbol of the sacrifice of the innocent Son of God in the place of guilty sinners and in order to appease the wrath of an offended God, but it does stand forever, on earth and throughout a vast universe, as a sacred symbol of the good bestowing themselves upon the evil and thereby saving them by this very devotion of love.

   1955, anonymous author, The Urantia Book: The Time of the Tomb

   Synonyms: consecrated, divine, godly, hallowed, blessed, celestial, devoutful, divine · Antonyms: profane, unholy

2. Religious; relating to religion, or to the services of religion; not secular

   Smit with the love of sacred song.

   1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost

   1 more example

   By way of example, it would be sufficient to refer to Sabino Samele acquaviva (1971), previously known for his theory of the eclipse of the sacred, and to Harvey cox (1968), prophet of the secular city.

   2015, Douglas J. Davies, Adam J. Powell, Sacred Selves, Sacred Settings: Reflecting Hans Mol, →ISBN, page 87

3. Spiritual; concerned with metaphysics.

   Unlike most metaphysical or philosophical naturalists who reject any supernatural beings or supernatural/sacred entities, naturalists who take the concept of the sacred seriously must answer this question: “What is the value of the sacred with respect to nature?"

   2014, Leon Niemoczynski, Nam T. Nguyen, A Philosophy of Sacred Nature: Prospects for Ecstatic Naturalism, →ISBN

   1 more example

   In his major studies, Eliade explains the sacred and profane as “two modes of being in the world, two existential situations assumed by man in the course of history. . . . In the last analysis, the sacred and profane modes of being depend upon the different positions that man has conquered in the cosmos."

   2014, Elazar Barkan, Karen Barkey, Choreographies of Shared Sacred Sites, →ISBN

4. Designated or exalted by a divine sanction; possessing the highest title to obedience, honor, reverence, or veneration; entitled to extreme reverence; venerable.

   Such neighbor nearness to our sacred [royal] blood Should nothing privilege him.

   1595, William Shakespeare, King Richard II

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   Poet and saint to thee alone were given, The two most sacred names of earth and heaven.

   1656, Abraham Cowley, On The Death Of Mr. Crashaw

   Synonyms: honoured, revered, venerated, admired, applauded, blessed, distinguished, eminent

5. Not to be profaned or violated; inviolable.

   Secrets of marriage still are sacred held.

   1701, John Dryden, Aurenge-Zebe: Or, The Great-Mogul

   1 more example

   The sacred project of sociology is simply to help people enjoy being fully what they are.

   2014, Christian Smith, The Sacred Project of American Sociology, →ISBN

   Synonyms: inviolable, sacrosanct, inviolable, sacrosanct

6. Consecrated; dedicated; devoted

   A temple, sacred to the queen of love.

   1700, John Dryden, Palamon and Arcite

   Synonyms: consecrated

7. archaicSolemnly devoted, in a bad sense, as to evil, vengeance, curse, or the like; accursed; baleful.

   But, to destruction sacred and devote.

   1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost

1. participlepastsimple past and past participle of sacre