Savior Definition & Meaning

American

Spelling

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms savior American [seyv-yer] / ˈseɪv yər / Or saviour

noun

1. a person who saves, rescues, or delivers.

   the savior of the country.

2. (initial capital letter) a title of God, especially of Christ.

3. (initial capital letter) an epithet of Artemis.

Spelling

See -or 1.

Other Word Forms

• saviorhood noun
• saviorship noun
• undersavior noun

Etymology

Origin of savior

1250–1300; Middle English saveour, sauveur < Old French sauvëour < Late Latin salvātor, equivalent to Latin salvā ( re ) to save 1 + -tor -tor

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

This helps the empathizer make sense of things, but it sounds more like victimization and a savior complex than empathy.

From The Wall Street Journal

Lizza casts himself as another savior, writing: “I had helped her untangle herself from an unusual relationship.”

From The Wall Street Journal

“But Jesus stresses the importance of belief. To proclaim that Jesus is our lord and savior is an act of faith that everyone has to take on their own.”

From Los Angeles Times

“That it was a ‘savior’ diagnosis for too many kids whose parents wanted a medical reason to drug their children, or to explain their kids’ bad behavior.”

From Literature

With the passage of centuries, the Eurocentric accounts that depicted Cortés as a heroic “white savior” and Moctezuma as a cowardly heathen have been eclipsed.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• defender
• guardian angel
• hero
• liberator
• protector
• salvation

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.