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Glite Dictionary
for the love of

for the love of

13 7.5
To show strong feeling, often as an urgent plea
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : por amor de
  • Please, oh please, for the love of all that is good and holy, someone help me.
  • for the love of God
  • for the love of the game
  • for the love of Pete

Please, for the love of humanity, stop this.

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Examples

  • OK, for the love of God, it tastes nice.

  • I do it for the love of the sport.

    Gladiator II (2024)

  • Put please, for the love of God, put your shoes on.

  • You said please, please, for the love of God, stop.

  • Please, for the love of God, go vote, take your friends, text everybody.

  • Well, I play for the love of it, to be honest with you.

    A Killer Next Door (2020)

  • Help me, brothers, for the love of God!

    Doctor Zhivago (1965)

  • Please, for the love of humanity, stop this.

    NikkieTutorials

  • Succeed or fail on your own hard work and intelligence, but for the love of God, stop whining!

    Blog text (19)

  • Please, for the love of God, go vote, take your friends, text everybody.

Synonyms

for Christ's sake
vsfor the love of
  • Offensive
62 9.2

A strong word that shows annoyance and makes a request urgent

can also convey heartfelt devotion or passion rather than only annoyance
for heaven's sake
vsfor the love of
  • Informal
45 7.6

People say it to show impatience or anger

can also signal deep emotion or devotion instead of mere impatience
for chrissake
vsfor the love of
  • Offensive
24 9.9

Say it to show strong anger, frustration, or urgency, and it is rude

is also usable to show deep fondness or devotion not only anger
for the love of Mike
vsfor the love of
  • UK
1 9.9

Words people say when they are very annoyed or want something done quickly

is also used to show deep passion or devotion rather than only annoyance
for the love of Christ
vsfor the love of
  • Offensive
9.7

A strong spoken request or cry that shows shock and anger

is also used sincerely to express love or devotion not only outrage

How Passionate

devotion
62 3.2
for the love of
  • Informal
13 7.5
to interest
206 1.0

Surface Forms

for the love of main

Morphology

for + the + love + of

The literal parts ('for' + 'the love of') yield a plausible causal/for-the-sake-of meaning, so a learner could infer some sense of reason or devotion. However, its conventional use as an emphatic exclamation of urgency, plea, or frustration (e.g. 'for the love of God') is partly figurative and pragmatically conventionalized, so the full idiomatic force is not reliably predictable without exposure.

Etymology

For the love of comes from older sayings like 'for the love of God', which people used to say to show very strong feeling. Because it names love, people now use for the love of to show strong emotion, urgency, or that something is done 'out of passion'.