for the love of
Idioms-
For the sake of, in consideration of. For example, She signed up for all these volunteer jobs for the love of praise . [c. 1200]
-
. An exclamation of surprise, exasperation, or some similar feeling, as in For the love of Pete, give me the money! James Joyce used this idiom in Ulysses (1922): “For the love of Mike listen to him.” Pete and Mike are euphemisms for God. [Early 1900s] Also see for the sake of , def. 3.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Adds Weitz, “Jacob falls in love with both of the sisters for different reasons and at different times so it becomes a story about sister rivalry for the love of the same man.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2026
This Halloween, for the love of America—please turn on the porch light, go door-to-door, open your own.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 21, 2025
“He plays for the love of the game and just because it’s all he knows,” Tyler said.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 3, 2025
"I run the pub for the love of it and for the fact I'm a village girl," she says.
From BBC • Jul. 11, 2025
Too many have suffered for the love of freedom.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
