To dedicate something as holy or invest it with sacred significance.
Reach for it when describing an actual religious rite or a deliberate spiritual understanding of an act
The community gathered at dawn to sanctify the new place of worship.
| warm | |
|---|---|
| professional | |
| formal |
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| literary |
warm
Fits when invoking divine favor is the central action
Careful A blessing may protect or thank without changing sacred status.
professional
Fits when assigning something to a lasting purpose is enough
Careful Secular dedication does not sanctify its object.
formal
anoint
Fits when ritual application of oil or formal selection is literal
Careful Anoint names a particular practice and cannot stand for every consecration.
formal
consecrate
Fits when a formal rite dedicates a person or place to sacred use
Careful Consecrate points to the ceremony more precisely than every act of sanctifying.
literary
Fits when preserving a principle or memory as especially honored
Careful Enshrine is often figurative and may protect a rule without making it holy.
literary
Fits when reverent memory or blessing makes something holy
Careful Hallow is archaic in ordinary religious explanation.
sanctify a marriage
They asked their faith community to sanctify a marriage grounded in mutual care.
sanctify the place
The elders returned to sanctify the place after its careful rebuilding.
sanctify through prayer
Worshippers sanctify through prayer what the congregation has set apart.
Keep in mind
Use the figurative sense cautiously: calling policy or violence sanctified may describe claimed legitimacy rather than genuine goodness.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: EncycloPetey, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Updated
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