Synonyms of sanctifying

sanctifying

verb

present participle of sanctify

1

as in purging

to free from moral guilt or blemish especially ceremonially

received the sacrament of penance, whereby they were sanctified and restored to divine grace

Synonyms & Similar Words

• purging
• purifying
• healing
• cleansing
• restoring
• improving
• amending
• refining
• regenerating
• elevating
• uplifting
• ennobling
• vindicating
• clearing
• acquitting
• exonerating
• absolving

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• degrading
• corrupting
• debasing
• staining
• defiling
• perverting
• debauching
• warping
• demeaning
• poisoning
• profaning
• depraving
• prostituting
• tarnishing
• sullying

2

as in blessing

to make holy through prayers or ritual

sanctify the bread for Communion

Synonyms & Similar Words

• blessing
• consecrating
• hallowing
• dedicating
• sacralizing
• spiritualizing
• purifying
• devoting
• baptizing
• cleansing
• canonizing
• exorcising
• chastening
• expurgating
• lustrating
• committing
• reconsecrating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• defiling
• desecrating
• profaning
• violating
• polluting
• soiling
• dirtying
• tainting
• punishing
• desanctifying
• fouling
• desacralizing
• cursing
• blaspheming
• deconsecrating
• damning
• condemning
• cussing
• casting out
• execrating

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of sanctifying

To say that the Union was sacred and the touchstone of democracy was to strengthen slavery by sanctifying the state that protected it. — Dominic Erdozain, Time, 3 July 2026

But far from celebrating or sanctifying the throwing off of English rule, the story’s shocking ending portrays the patriots as a fiendish mob, and casts doubt on the bedrock American faith in prosperity. — John Swansburg, The Atlantic, 15 June 2026

For King, defending a people did not mean sanctifying a state. — Ed Gaskin, Boston Herald, 15 Feb. 2026

An overexposed photo shows Miralba from the torso up, looking into a white sky, with a ray of light almost sanctifying her face. — Camila Osorio, New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2026

These are the kinds of faces O’Rourke foregrounds, similarly centering the quotidian to sanctifying effect. — Catherine Bray, Variety, 17 Dec. 2025