Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Definitions

sanctify

[sangk-tuh-fahy] / ˈsæŋk təˌfaɪ /


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.

See Examples For:

It is that the law will sanctify it.

From Slate Jul. 3, 2025

These shrines laden with incense, flowers and other offerings sanctify its gardens, waters and the surrounding landscape, and they highlight the psychic malaise dominating most of its visitors.

From Salon Feb. 16, 2025

But just as Zeldin isn’t interested in stripping the dignity from his characters any further than the system has done already, he also refuses to sanctify them.

From New York Times Mar. 2, 2023

Enshrined, meaning to cherish, revere, exalt, consecrate and sanctify, is a word of dignity and respect now side-by-side with same-sex marriages and families, and interracial families.

From Seattle Times Dec. 12, 2022

“I sanctify this pyre,” he proclaimed, darting grumpy looks at the giantess Hyrrokkin, who still did not, Thor felt, appear to be properly respectful.

From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman

He said he was "glad that Israel will participate again in Eurovision and I hope that the competition will remain one that sanctifies culture, poetry, and friendship between peoples and cross-border cultural understanding".

From BBC Dec. 4, 2025

In that 2003 book, he wrote that the Hebrew term “amidah,” or steadfastness, is used for resistance that preserves and sanctifies life.

From New York Times Aug. 25, 2021

That movie sanctifies ignorance, whereas Heller’s, equally gentle, explores not simplemindedness so much as simplicity, a rarer gift.

From The New Yorker Nov. 15, 2019

Her death sanctifies him and, in turn, the viewer who might harbor similar biases.

From Slate May 18, 2018

It signifies wealth, evokes the closeness of family, and sanctifies a proper meal.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden

Here, the real Presley is charismatic as hell, and looks great beaded in sanctified sweat.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 11, 2025

Not Section 60, where the atmosphere is sanctified but not somber—too many kids, Meredith recalled from her visits to her son’s burial site.

From Salon Sep. 5, 2024

“Here, communication between man and God takes place,” said Lyngdoh, a descendant of the priestly clan which sanctified the Mawphlang forest.

From Seattle Times Jan. 17, 2024

The most extravagant was the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, a coterie of colleagues and admirers with whom he gave critically sanctified summer performances from 2003 until just before his death.

From New York Times Jun. 23, 2023

But it is, weirdly enough, the home of an actual Buddhist that shatters the sanctified mood.

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich

As I take steps in teaching, sanctifying and leading, I hope to listen more than I speak and to learn from the people entrusted to my care.

From The Wall Street Journal Feb. 26, 2026

Given that prescriptive outlook, the NASA-commissioned Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Independent Study is raising a “we’re from the government, and we’re here to help” flag while sanctifying a scientific look at aerial weirdness.

From Scientific American Jun. 9, 2023

One prayer was read in memory of the “Kedoshim of Pittsburgh, murdered al kiddush Hashem” — holy martyrs, killed while sanctifying God’s name.

From Seattle Times Apr. 22, 2023

“Anne’s final gift to us was dying in the state of sanctifying grace. We know we will one day be reunited with her in God’s kingdom.”

From Washington Times Oct. 31, 2022

In this sense the place was like modern purpose-built political capitals, such as Washington, D.C., or Canberra, Australia, with sanctifying civic monuments to compensate for a lack of real history.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro




Vocabulary lists containing sanctify


Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training