English Reference
Idiom idiom

for heaven's sake

Meaning

Expresses frustration, exasperation, annoyance, or the urgency of an instruction.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Examples
SIMPLE

“For heaven's sake, please stop making that noise.”

CONTEXTUAL

“For heaven's sake, we are already twenty minutes late, so please just get in the car.”

COMPLEX

“For heaven's sake, he exclaimed, after the third time the delicate mechanism failed to function as intended during the demonstration.”

Anchors to
Related idioms5entries
  1. 01

    for fuck's sake

    An expression of anger or frustration.

  2. 02

    for mercy's sake

    An especially mild oath.

  3. 03

    for Pete's sake

    Used to express frustration, exasperation, annoyance

  4. 04

    for pity's sake

    for Pete's sake; An especially mild oath

  5. 05

    fuck's sake

    Ellipsis of for fuck's sake.

Last updated August 10, 2026