as in slaughter
the killing of a large number of people
the infamous massacre of more than 200 Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota
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as in to slaughter
to kill on a large scale
the country's rival ethnic groups began massacring one another
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of massacre
Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 13 June 2026
Although the Pulse massacre’s status as the country’s deadliest was supplanted the year after that June night, in Las Vegas in 2017, its resonance remains for the broad community that suffered through it or came to understand it, here and around the world.
—Silas Morgan, The Orlando Sentinel, 12 June 2026
Pilar Melendez, NBC news, 31 May 2026
Retroactively, they were interpreted as premonitions of the 1994 violence that saw many thousands of locals, primarily Tutsis, massacred at the hands of Hutu Génocidaires.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 26 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for massacre
Noun
The violence of European colonization across the North American continent may have achieved a grisly apex at Acoma when, following a siege by Spanish conquistadors in 1595, a massacre occurred killing hundreds.
—Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 13 June 2026
Although the Pulse massacre’s status as the country’s deadliest was supplanted the year after that June night, in Las Vegas in 2017, its resonance remains for the broad community that suffered through it or came to understand it, here and around the world.
—Silas Morgan, The Orlando Sentinel, 12 June 2026
Verb
The San Diego duo responsible for a deadly mosque attack earlier this month were tweens in 2019 when a white supremacist livestreamed himself massacring 51 worshippers in Christchurch, New Zealand.
—Pilar Melendez, NBC news, 31 May 2026
Retroactively, they were interpreted as premonitions of the 1994 violence that saw many thousands of locals, primarily Tutsis, massacred at the hands of Hutu Génocidaires.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 26 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for massacre
Recent Examples of Synonyms for massacre
slaughter
Noun
-
Fulda all but ditches his ambitious partner Chaton (Vincent Dedienne), in order to team up with Stéphane to get to the bottom of the endless pig-slaughter, and to put paid to the local superstition that Brun’s ghost may be the culprit.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
16 June 2026
-
The coup ended with the slaughter or imprisonment of most of its participants.—
Ben Taub,
New Yorker,
15 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Massacre.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/massacre. Accessed 23 Jun. 2026.
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