1
as in to purge
to free from moral guilt or blemish especially ceremonially
received the sacrament of penance, whereby they were sanctified and restored to divine grace
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2
as in to bless
to make holy through prayers or ritual
sanctify the bread for Communion
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Recent Examples of sanctify
Just a space sanctified by the men who’d bled and died on this ground.
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John Ganz, Harper's Magazine, 22 May 2024
Turks have long revered, even sanctified, the state as the ultimate defense against internal strife and dissolution in a heterogeneous society.
—Halil Karaveli, Foreign Affairs, 17 Oct. 2016
Accentuating the glass wrinkles with gilding serves to sanctify the century-old depot structure.
—Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
By the end of the second century, early Christian theologians like St. Clement of Alexandria described two fires: one that destroys and one that sanctifies.
—Lanta Davis and Vince Reighard, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for sanctify 
John Ganz, Harper's Magazine, 22 May 2024
Turks have long revered, even sanctified, the state as the ultimate defense against internal strife and dissolution in a heterogeneous society.
—Halil Karaveli, Foreign Affairs, 17 Oct. 2016
Accentuating the glass wrinkles with gilding serves to sanctify the century-old depot structure.
—Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
By the end of the second century, early Christian theologians like St. Clement of Alexandria described two fires: one that destroys and one that sanctifies.
—Lanta Davis and Vince Reighard, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for sanctify
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sanctify
Verb
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One City’s Secret to Happiness: The Annual Burning of a 50-Foot Effigy Every year, Santa Fe incinerates a giant puppet of Zozobra — a ritual meant to purge anxiety and promote a reset.Kim Tingley Caity Weaver Sterry Butcher Lulu Garcia-Navarro Kwame Anthony Appiah Kwame Anthony Appiah Yotam Ottolenghi Elizabeth Nelson Andrew Willett John Hodgman, New York Times, 17 Nov. 2024
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In the primaries that followed, the three state leaders began a complex and somewhat uncoordinated campaign to purge Republicans in the relatively independent state House who had defied them on Paxton and vouchers.Saul Elbein, The Hill, 6 Nov. 2024
Verb
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We’re blessed this week with two crew nights out and a guest being finicky about drink garnishes.Emma Soren, Vulture, 5 Nov. 2024
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Trump’s top aides expect to face lawsuits over these actions but believe they will ultimately be blessed by a conservative-majority high court.Eric Cortellessa, TIME, 5 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Dalhousie University View 1 Images Scientists in Canada have demonstrated a promising new device that can purify a gallon of water a day, for just a few cents per gallon.Michael Irving, New Atlas, 1 Nov. 2024
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The humidity is condensed out of the air and turned into water, which is then purified.Chris Stokel-Walker, TIME, 30 Oct. 2024
Verb
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In its operation, however, the ICC consecrated a much more restricted international legal order, one that effectively presumed that grave atrocity crimes are the province only of the non-Western world.Oumar Ba, Foreign Affairs, 18 June 2021
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Nearby is Duomo di Modena, consecrated in 1184, the former seat of the Diocese, later Archdiocese, of Modena.Jordan Riefe, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Aug. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Sanctify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sanctify. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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