for the love of God

English

Etymology

From Middle English for the luf of God, for þe love of god, for ðe luve of gode (literally “for the love of God”), variant of for godes luve, for godes lufe, for godes lufen (literally “for God's love”), from Old English for Godes lufon (literally “for God's love”).

Prepositional phrase

for the love of God

1. An expression of exasperation, usually while making a request.

   Synonyms: for the love of Betsy, for the love of Mike, for Pete's sake, for crying out loud, for God's sake, sakes; see also Thesaurus:for the love of God

   For the love of God, take that out of the microwave before it blows up!

   Why for the love of God do you insist on dressing your child like that?

Related terms

• for the love of
• for the love of fuck