molochize · verb — to offer as a sacrifice. It carries an Arena rating of 1325, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, molochize ranks #341 of 17,171 for Scariest Words, #363 of 17,195 for The Improbable, #377 of 17,145 for Most Storied Words, #793 of 17,197 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
molochize is pronounced /ˈməʊlɒkaɪz/.
Why “molochize” is a great word
To sacrifice or offer up a valued thing—often one’s own progeny or future—to a ruthless and insatiable idol. From the proper name Moloch (a Canaanite god associated with child sacrifice) and the English verbal suffix -ize. Unlike ‘immolate,’ which suggests a general sacrificial burning, or ‘consecrate,’ which implies a hallowed dedication, to molochize is to enact a specific, historical horror: the ritualized destruction of the vulnerable for the appeasement of a devouring power. It is the budget that guts the school to feed the arsenal, the policy that trades a habitable planet for quarterly gains, the career that consumes a childhood—the quiet, bureaucratic furnaces of our own making, where the cost is a soul and the reward is merely the machine's continued grinding.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From Moloch + -ize, named after Moloch, a Biblical pagan god.
verb
- To offer as a sacrifice.e.g.“Humanity was dead, for superstition Molochized the heart.” — 1823, William Hone, “February 23: Stoning the Jews in Lent.—A Custom.”, in The every-day book, or, The guide to the year, volume 2, page 295:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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