sacrifice: meaning and words from its letters
9 letters · 16 letter points · starts with S · ends with E
Meaning of sacrifice
noun
- countable, uncountable
Originally, the killing (and often burning) of a human being or an animal as an offering to a deity; later, also the offering of an object to a deity.
- countable, uncountable
A human being or an animal, or a physical object or immaterial thing (see etymology 1 sense 1.3), offered to a deity.
- countable, figuratively, uncountable
The offering of devotion, penitence, prayer, thanksgiving, etc., to a deity.
- countable, specifically, uncountable
Jesus Christ's voluntary offering of himself to God the Father to be crucified as atonement for the sins of humankind.
Listed forms: sacrifices.
Source: Wiktionary — sacrifice.
verb
- transitive
To offer (a human being or an animal, or an object) to a deity.
- broadly, figuratively, transitive
To destroy or kill (a human being or an animal); specifically (sciences), to kill (an animal) for a scientific experiment or test.
- broadly, figuratively, transitive
To destroy or surrender (something) for the sake of something else regarded as more urgent or valuable.
Example: Venison has many advantages over meat from factory farms, although it still requires a hunter to sacrifice the life of a deer.
- broadly, figuratively, transitive
Of a batter: to advance (one or more runners on base) by batting the ball so it can be fielded, placing the batter out but with insufficient time to put the runner(s) out.
Listed forms: sacrifices, sacrificing, sacrificed, glossary, sacrificest.
Source: Wiktionary — sacrifice.
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org. Selected senses and forms; quotations omitted. Definition text is CC BY-SA 4.0.
Synonyms by meaning
Words are grouped by sense, so they are not necessarily interchangeable in every context. Search synonyms for sacrifice.
noun
the act of losing or surrendering something as a penalty for a mistake or fault or failure to perform etc.
noun
the act of killing (an animal or person) in order to propitiate a deity
- ritual killing
verb
endure the loss of
Open English WordNet Team, 2025, derived from Princeton University WordNet; selected synonym groups under CC BY 4.0. Source · OEWN notice · Princeton notice.
Is sacrifice in our word lists?
| Word list | Status |
|---|---|
| American English | Found |
| British English | Found |
| Extended English | Found |
These are spelling-list matches, not official game validity checks. Check the rules and dictionary used by your game.
Letter-value score of sacrifice
S(1) + A(1) + C(3) + R(1) + I(1) + F(4) + I(1) + C(3) + E(1) = 16 points.
This is a sum of letter values without board bonuses or word multipliers. A blank tile is worth zero: subtract the value of each letter supplied by a blank. The score does not establish game validity. Full letter-value table.
Anagrams of sacrifice
0 other standard-list words use exactly these letters, including repeated letters.
No other single-word anagram was found in our standard list.
Shorter words from sacrifice
121 shorter standard-list words can be made using no letter more often than it occurs in sacrifice. Showing up to 24, longest first.