Word.ws English Dictionary

for heaven's sake

for heaven's sake interjection: expresses frustration, exasperation, annoyance, or the urgency of an instruction.

Interjection

  1. (euphemistic, idiomatic) Expresses frustration, exasperation, annoyance, or the urgency of an instruction.
    • Don't ever use the hood on your anorak; and, if you do, for heaven's sake don't pull the string tight so that you peep out like a little baby in a siren suit.1980, Bill Oddie, Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book, page 61
    • Labour frontbencher Louise Haigh (Shadow Transport Secretary for heaven's sake!) initially lambasted TOCs before the handful of specialist rail commentators fell on her tweets and she changed her tune, refocusing her fire on Government.2023 August 9, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Disinterested and dishonest”, in RAIL, number 989, page 3
  2. (euphemistic, idiomatic) Expresses surprise, sometimes pleasant.
    • Well, for heaven's sake! Look who's here! Good to see you again!

Adverb capitalized: for Heaven's sake

for Heaven's sake

  1. Alternative letter-case form of for heaven's sake.
    • But the Mancunians are of all men the most disposed to peace. Their name has become a bye-word because they are said to require peace at any price. If the Mancunians are satisfied, for Heaven's sake do not let us put it into their heads that they could gain anything by change.1859, [Arthur Helps], “War”, in Friends in Council: A Series of Readings and Discourse thereon (New Series), 2nd edition, volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker & Son, West Strand, →OCLC, page 137
    • “I think she might have been mistrustful, mum,” answered Sloppy, hesitating. / “Of what, for Heaven’s sake?”1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, “In Which the Orphan Makes His Will”, in Our Mutual Friend. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLC, 2nd book (Birds of a...

for heaven's sake meaning in Arabic

for heaven's sake in Arabic

expresses frustration, exasperation, annoyance, or the urgency of an instruction
لِوَجْهِ اللّٰهِ li-wajhi allāhi, مِنْ أَجْلِ اللّٰهِ min ʔajli llāhi, مِنْ أَجْلِ السَّمَاءِ min ʔajli s-samāʔi

Synonyms of for heaven's sake

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All synonyms of for heaven's sake

Forms of for heaven's sake

alternative formfor Heaven's sake

Questions about for heaven's sake

What does for heaven's sake mean?
For heaven's sake means expresses frustration, exasperation, annoyance, or the urgency of an instruction.
What is for heaven's sake in Arabic?
For heaven's sake in Arabic is لِوَجْهِ اللّٰهِ (li-wajhi allāhi), مِنْ أَجْلِ اللّٰهِ (min ʔajli llāhi), مِنْ أَجْلِ السَّمَاءِ (min ʔajli s-samāʔi). See For heaven's sake meaning in Arabic.
What part of speech is for heaven's sake?
For heaven's sake can be an interjection or an adverb.

Words near for heaven's sake in the dictionary

  1. for goodness' sake
  2. for goodness' sakes
  3. for goodness's sake
  4. for gosh sake
  5. for grins
  6. for heaven's sake
  7. for hellery
  8. for here
  9. for hours
  10. for instance
  11. for instances

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: for heaven's sake (page history and authors); for Heaven's sake (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-for heaven's sake.ogg.

Cite this entry: “for heaven's sake.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/for_heaven%27s_sake. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.