Synonyms of brutality

brutality

noun

brü-ˈta-lə-tē 

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

• cruelty
• atrocity
• savagery
• barbarity
• inhumanity
• savageness
• sadism
• murderousness
• heartlessness
• cruelness
• viciousness
• fiendishness
• barbarousness
• ruthlessness
• truculence
• inhumanness
• wantonness
• oppressiveness
• mercilessness
• atrociousness
• meanness
• ferocity
• ferociousness
• grimness
• pitilessness
• fierceness
• bloodthirstiness
• malevolence
• spitefulness
• bloodlust
• hatefulness
• maliciousness
• hard-heartedness
• unfeelingness
• harshness
• sanguinity
• malignity
• heavy-handedness
• nastiness
• fellness
• sanguineness
• despitefulness
• cattiness
• hardhandedness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sympathy
• humanity
• compassion
• kindness
• humaneness
• tenderness
• benignity
• warmth
• tenderheartedness
• warmness
• kindheartedness
• good-heartedness
• mercy
• pity
• leniency
• clemency
• warmheartedness
• charitableness
• mercifulness

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

• cruelty
• brutishness
• animalism
• bestiality
• animality
• beastliness
• barbarity
• sensuality
• physicality
• savagery
• rudeness
• carnality
• swinishness
• sadism
• boorishness
• viciousness
• crudeness
• grossness
• coarseness
• loutishness
• wantonness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• spirituality
• intellectuality
• nobility
• magnanimity
• compassion
• kindness
• benevolence
• beneficence
• benignity
• kindliness
• high-mindedness
• greatheartedness
• tenderheartedness
• kindheartedness
• good-heartedness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of brutality

Jackie and Shadow’s story After the pair became official in 2018, FOBBV’s nest cameras documented Jackie and Shadow’s life together, offering viewers a direct look into the brutality and beauty of nature. — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 13 Aug. 2026

Tobe Hooper’s original film is arguably the best artistic achievement that the genre has ever seen, boasting an unflinching portrayal of brutality that holds up to this day. — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 8 Aug. 2026

Darnella Frazier, 17, took out her phone and recorded the brutality. — Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Aug. 2026

At the same time, the recent, deadly brutality of the agency and its partners has led, according to some polls, to strong support for such a policy; those espousing the slogan have included Bill Kristol, the neocon anti-Trump writer. — Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026