Holy Grail

noun

1

: grail

2

often not capitalized : an object or goal that is sought after for its great significance

Examples of Holy Grail in a Sentence

Finding a cure for cancer is the holy grail of medical researchers.

Recent Examples on the Web

The start-to-finish real estate experience has been a Holy Grail for a long time. —Andrea Riquier, USA Today, 10 June 2025

Reliable, efficient Automatic Target Recognition or ATR has long been a Holy Grail for weapon developers, allowing munitions to detect and identify targets on their own, a true ‘fire and forget’ capability. —David Hambling, Forbes.com, 20 May 2025

Having made the Premier League his Holy Grail after winning back-to-back titles with Porto in 2012 and 2013, Pereira instead became a footballing globetrotter. —Steve Madeley, New York Times, 1 May 2025

The movie is a take-off of the Arthurian legend with the klutzy knights in their pyrrhic search of that ever-illusive Holy Grail. —Luaine Lee, Boston Herald, 29 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for Holy Grail

• abigail
• cottontail
• countervail
• fingernail
• martingale
• mesoscale
• microscale
• monorail
• nanoscale
• ponytail
• swallowtail
• wensleydale

Kids Definition

Holy Grail

noun

-ˈgrā(ə)l

: the cup or platter which according to legend was used by Christ and was sought after by knights during the Middle Ages