immolate

verb

im·​mo·​late ˈi-mə-ˌlāt 

immolated; immolating

transitive verb

1

: to kill or destroy especially by fire

2

: to offer in sacrifice

especially : to kill as a sacrificial victim

immolator

ˈi-mə-ˌlā-tər 

noun

Synonyms

• offer
• sacrifice

Examples of immolate in a Sentence

a man who immolated himself as an act of protest

a ceremony in which they immolated their cherished possessions so that the gods would send rain

Recent Examples on the Web

Because the courts were never going to be a substitute for Congress and the public standing up to a self-immolating executive branch. —Leah Litman, TIME, 28 Feb. 2025

Advertisement To some, the self-immolating media blitz recast Crowley as willing to speak truth to power and stand up for her troops amid one of the worst urban firestorms in California history. —Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2025

Before swaths of the city immolated, the Democratic mayor of an overwhelmingly Democratic city was widely expected to sail into a second term with no serious opponents in the 2026 election. —Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2025

Hart thus far has used his own mysterious power to immolate both a young boy and Emperor Corrino’s (Mark Strong) trusted Truthsayer Kasha, and severely singe Emperor Richese. —Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 5 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin immolatus, past participle of immolare to sprinkle with meal before sacrificing, sacrifice, from in- + mola sacrificial barley cake, literally, millstone; akin to Latin molere to grind — more at meal

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for immolate

• abdicate
• abrogate
• acetate
• activate
• actuate
• adsorbate
• aggravate
• agitate
• alginate
• alienate
• allocate
• amputate

Kids Definition

immolate

verb

im·​mo·​late ˈim-ə-ˌlāt 

immolated; immolating

: to kill as a sacrifice

immolation

ˌim-ə-ˈlā-shən

noun

immolator

ˈim-ə-ˌlāt-ər 

noun