1
as in cruelty
disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others
the police were accused of brutality for using excessive force in making arrests
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in brutishness
the manifestation of the traits or the gratification of the appetites of a lower animal
the disconcerting ease with which the people adopted the brutality of the enemy invaders
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of brutality
One sequence, in particular, rivals any Game of Thrones battle in its epic scope, its graphic brutality and its surely astronomical VFX budget.
—
Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 7 Apr. 2025
Zoom out: Gun sales spiked nationwide starting in 2020 amid climbing homicide rates, protests over police brutality, and a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes.
—Mike D'onofrio, Axios, 2 Apr. 2025
Hate and rationalization of all the provenances of brutality.
—David Bezmozgis, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2025
The case has drawn national attention to issues of police brutality and racial bias, particularly in how law enforcement engages with individuals with disabilities.
—Essence, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 7 Apr. 2025
Zoom out: Gun sales spiked nationwide starting in 2020 amid climbing homicide rates, protests over police brutality, and a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes.
—Mike D'onofrio, Axios, 2 Apr. 2025
Hate and rationalization of all the provenances of brutality.
—David Bezmozgis, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2025
The case has drawn national attention to issues of police brutality and racial bias, particularly in how law enforcement engages with individuals with disabilities.
—Essence, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutality
Noun
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Woodland police detectives on Tuesday arrested Christian Jacobo, 22, on suspicion of murder and willful cruelty toward a child causing death, police officials said in a Friday news release.—
Darrell Smith,
Sacbee.com,
11 Apr. 2025
-
But what’s even creepier is Remmick’s invitation to the holdouts to join them, promising an escape from dehumanizing cruelty into a fellowship that offers an eternal life of freedom and enlightenment.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has been fighting a multi-front war against pro-democracy fighters and ethnic armed groups after seizing power in 2021, with credible and widespread reports of atrocities against the people.—
Ross Adkin,
CNN Money,
4 Apr. 2025
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Who knew that combining a sweet story about an adorable penguin and one about the atrocities of a political uprising in 1976 Argentina could have such charm?—
Rosemary Rossi,
Variety,
31 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Hope is something that Dior’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri can related to, having explored the dualities of hope and despair (as well as lightness and darkness, and fluidity and animalism) in her spring 2023 collection.—
Rosemary Feitelberg,
WWD,
22 Jan. 2025
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All of a sudden, that animalism has been incarnated.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
25 Mar. 2024
Noun
-
This strangeness causes all sorts of internal agitation, an uneasiness about humanity’s closeness to animality.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
16 Feb. 2025
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But also, something more intrinsic — something like her animality.—
Camille Bromley Gabra Zackman Krish Seenivasan David Mason,
New York Times,
6 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Brutality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutality. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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