"for Pete's sake" meaning in English

See for Pete's sake in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Interjection

Audio: en-uk-for Pete's sake.ogg [UK], en-us-for petes sake.ogg [US] Forms: for Pete's sake ! [canonical]
Etymology: Euphemistic variant of for Christ's sake, for God's sake; Pete either invoking Saint Peter or influenced by for pity's sake.
  1. (minced oath) Used to express frustration, exasperation, annoyance.
    Sense id: en-for_Pete's_sake-en-intj-gUzrMIgE Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English minced oaths, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Synonyms: FFS, for Christ's sake, for cripes' sake, for crying in the beer, for crying out loud, for fucking out loud, for fuck's sake, for God's sake, for goodness' sake, for heaven's sake, for mercy's sake, for Pete's sake, for pity's sake, for the love of all that is holy, for the love of Betsy, for the love of God, for the love of Mike, for the love of Moses, for the love of fuck, for the love of Pete
     
{
  "etymology_text": "Euphemistic variant of for Christ's sake, for God's sake; Pete either invoking Saint Peter or influenced by for pity's sake.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "for Pete's sake !",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "intj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English minced oaths",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              15
            ]
          ],
          "text": "For Pete's sake, get off the computer! You've been on there for ages!",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              1,
              16
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1920 September, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, “Head and Shoulders”, in Flappers and Philosophers, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 91:",
          "text": "“For Pete's sake, don't look so critical!” objected the emanation pleasantly.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used to express frustration, exasperation, annoyance."
      ],
      "id": "en-for_Pete's_sake-en-intj-gUzrMIgE",
      "links": [
        [
          "minced oath",
          "minced oath"
        ],
        [
          "frustration",
          "frustration#English"
        ],
        [
          "exasperation",
          "exasperation#English"
        ],
        [
          "annoyance",
          "annoyance#English"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "minced oath",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(minced oath) Used to express frustration, exasperation, annoyance."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "FFS"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for Christ's sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for cripes' sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for crying in the beer"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for crying out loud"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for fucking out loud"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for fuck's sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for God's sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for goodness' sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for heaven's sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for mercy's sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for Pete's sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for pity's sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for the love of all that is holy"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for the love of Betsy"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for the love of God"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for the love of Mike"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for the love of Moses"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for the love of fuck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for the love of Pete"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-uk-for Pete's sake.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8f/En-uk-for_Pete%27s_sake.ogg/En-uk-for_Pete%27s_sake.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/En-uk-for_Pete%27s_sake.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-for petes sake.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3e/En-us-for_petes_sake.ogg/En-us-for_petes_sake.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/En-us-for_petes_sake.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "for Pete's sake"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "Euphemistic variant of for Christ's sake, for God's sake; Pete either invoking Saint Peter or influenced by for pity's sake.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "for Pete's sake !",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "intj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English evaluative adverbs",
        "English interjections",
        "English lemmas",
        "English minced oaths",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English prepositional phrases",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              15
            ]
          ],
          "text": "For Pete's sake, get off the computer! You've been on there for ages!",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              1,
              16
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1920 September, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, “Head and Shoulders”, in Flappers and Philosophers, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 91:",
          "text": "“For Pete's sake, don't look so critical!” objected the emanation pleasantly.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used to express frustration, exasperation, annoyance."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "minced oath",
          "minced oath"
        ],
        [
          "frustration",
          "frustration#English"
        ],
        [
          "exasperation",
          "exasperation#English"
        ],
        [
          "annoyance",
          "annoyance#English"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "minced oath",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(minced oath) Used to express frustration, exasperation, annoyance."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "FFS"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for Christ's sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for cripes' sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for crying in the beer"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for crying out loud"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for fucking out loud"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for fuck's sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for God's sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for goodness' sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for heaven's sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for mercy's sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for Pete's sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for pity's sake"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for the love of all that is holy"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for the love of Betsy"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for the love of God"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for the love of Mike"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for the love of Moses"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for the love of fuck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:for the love of God",
          "word": "for the love of Pete"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-uk-for Pete's sake.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8f/En-uk-for_Pete%27s_sake.ogg/En-uk-for_Pete%27s_sake.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/En-uk-for_Pete%27s_sake.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-for petes sake.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3e/En-us-for_petes_sake.ogg/En-us-for_petes_sake.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/En-us-for_petes_sake.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "for Pete's sake"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-08-28 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-08-05 using wiktextract (872fc7b and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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