sacrosanct

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 29, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>sacrosanct</strong> &#149; \SAK-roh-sankt\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><em>Sacrosanct</em> is a formal word that describes things too important and respected to be changed or criticized. It can also mean “most sacred or holy.”</p> <p>// While the family's new matriarch aimed to maintain the familiar traditions of the holidays, she did not consider the details of their celebration to be <em>sacrosanct</em>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sacrosanct">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>“It might not have reached the needlessly high bar of Sony’s marketing push … but <em>Evil Dead</em> checked all the boxes for a successful remake. The critical reception, however, was decidedly mixed, perhaps because Raimi’s trilogy was regarded as <em>sacrosanct</em> by horror obsessives.” — Miles Surrey, <em>The Ringer</em>, 5 Apr. 2023</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Contrary to the beliefs of some, language is not sacrosanct; rather, it is subject to constant modification based on the needs, experiences, and even whims of those who use it. Take the word <em>sacrosanct</em> itself, which likely comes from the Latin phrase <em>sacro sanctus</em> meaning “made holy by a sacred rite.” There’s a definite semantic softening from that to the “too important and respected to be changed or criticized” meaning of <em>sacrosanct</em>. But holy moly, has <em>sanctus</em> led to a whole bunch of other English words with truly <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pious">pious</a> flavor, from <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/saint"><em>saint</em></a> and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sanctimony"><em>sanctimony</em></a> to <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionar