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
Scenes of entertaining brutality and entertaining inspiration are placed directly next to scenes with characters and situations that dissipate the pleasure of what came before.
—
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 15 June 2026
But the sheer brutality and creeping terror of the simplistic opening scene makes the rest of the film — with its gratuitous set pieces and CGI gore — seem much more inelegant.
—Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 15 June 2026
For a president who frequently threatens his opponents with violence, that brutality is surely part of the allure.
—Bhumika Tharoor, The Atlantic, 9 June 2026
In the years since, Corado’s name has become a rallying cry for the local movement against police brutality.
—James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 15 June 2026
But the sheer brutality and creeping terror of the simplistic opening scene makes the rest of the film — with its gratuitous set pieces and CGI gore — seem much more inelegant.
—Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 15 June 2026
For a president who frequently threatens his opponents with violence, that brutality is surely part of the allure.
—Bhumika Tharoor, The Atlantic, 9 June 2026
In the years since, Corado’s name has become a rallying cry for the local movement against police brutality.
—James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutality
Noun
-
These passages highlight the typically human cruelty and hypocrisy of fighting for one’s own liberty while denying it to one’s neighbors.—
Ann Manov,
Harpers Magazine,
23 June 2026
-
Last week, Dixon also pleaded no contest to the three felony animal cruelty charges.—
Rosalio Ahumada,
Sacbee.com,
23 June 2026
Noun
-
Generations of agents, therefore, have had to walk a line between bookishness and brutishness.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
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But the brutishness has merely relocated, to places far more dangerous.—
Ian Buruma,
New Yorker,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
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According to Reuters, the United States and European Union raised concerns that the resolution could be interpreted as creating a hierarchy among crimes against humanity by treating some atrocities as more serious than others.—
Jasmine Baehr,
FOXNews.com,
21 June 2026
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The genocidal atrocities uncovered in Bucha were televised internationally.—
Andy J. Semotiuk,
Forbes.com,
21 June 2026
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
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In other words, humans can act against the animal component of their nature and manifest their humanity by rejecting their animality.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Nov. 2025
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This strangeness causes all sorts of internal agitation, an uneasiness about humanity’s closeness to animality.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
16 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Brutality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutality. Accessed 24 Jun. 2026.
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