Salvation
n.hopeful, resilientliterary
Meaning 1
Rescue from grave danger, suffering, failure, or ruin.
Reach for it when naming the person, resource, or turn of events that prevents a disastrous outcome
The repaired well became the settlement's salvation during the drought.
Choose between these
4- playful
saving grace
when one redeeming feature prevents an otherwise poor result
not when The phrase is light and evaluative beside genuine life-threatening rescue.
- everyday
when removal from immediate danger is the concrete event
not when Rescue is neutral and lacks salvation's sense of a final escape from ruin.
- warm
when continuing support keeps a person or project viable
not when A lifeline sustains survival but may not resolve the underlying danger.
- literary
when release from oppression or severe danger deserves elevated language
not when Deliverance can sound biblical even in a wholly secular account.
Meaning 2
Deliverance from sin and its consequences within religious belief.
Reach for it when discussing the spiritual doctrine in its actual faith context
The sermon linked salvation with grace rather than worldly success.
Choose between these
3- warm
when unearned divine favor is the precise belief being named
not when Grace may be the means of salvation rather than salvation itself.
- professional
when freedom from domination or constraint is the outcome
not when Liberation belongs to political or social freedom, not the named theological deliverance.
- formal
redemption
when moral restoration or recovery from serious failure is central
not when Redemption concerns restored worth, whereas salvation can mean escape alone.
Said against
4- ruin
- destruction
- damnation
- condemnation
It naturally appears in
4- prove a salvation
The emergency ferry would prove a salvation for the isolated islanders.
- economic salvation
The repair cooperative was no economic salvation, but it kept twelve families working.
- hope of salvation
The hymn expresses a hope of salvation grounded in mercy.
- path to salvation
Different traditions describe the path to salvation in different terms.
Where this comes from
Outside theology, salvation is emphatic language best reserved for escape from genuinely severe stakes.
- wiktionary, English noun, preservation from destruction or failure sense opens in a new tab for meaning 1 · retrieved 2026-07-26
- wiktionary, English noun, spiritual deliverance sense opens in a new tab for meaning 2 · retrieved 2026-07-26
The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.