sacrosanct
adjective
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Contrary to the beliefs of some, language is not sacrosanct; rather, it is subject to constant modification based on the needs, experiences, and even whims of those who use it. Take the word sacrosanct itself, which likely comes from the Latin phrase sacro sanctus meaning “made holy by a sacred rite.” There’s a definite semantic softening from that to the “too important and respected to be changed or criticized” meaning of sacrosanct. But holy moly, has sanctus led to a whole bunch of other English words with truly pious flavor, from saint and sanctimony to sanctify and sanctuary. Sacrum (“a sacred rite”), whence came the sacro in sacro sanctus, is no slouch either, living on in English anatomy as the name for our pelvic vertebrae—a shortening of os sacrum, which literally means “holy bone.”
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Examples of sacrosanct in a Sentence
Duncan Alexander, The Athletic, 30 Dec. 2024
Thus the self-seekers and the doctrinaires were drawn together into an alliance to maintain the status quo, and all its abuses and inequalities were made sacrosanct.
—Foreign Affairs, 18 Dec. 2011
Her imprudence should not go unchallenged because the oath is sacrosanct.
—Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 6 Jan. 2024
This restraint formed the basis of the international system: borders were, by and large, sacrosanct.
—Tanisha M. Fazal, Foreign Affairs, 6 Apr. 2022
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Cite this Entry
“Sacrosanct.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sacrosanct. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
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