massacre

1 of 2

noun

mas·​sa·​cre ˈma-si-kər 

1

: the act or an instance of killing a number of usually helpless or unresisting human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty

witnessed the massacre of a boatload of refugees

2

: a cruel or wanton (see wanton entry 1 sense 1a) murder

3

: a wholesale slaughter of animals

Residents engaged in a citywide cat massacre.

4

: an act of complete destruction

the author's massacre of traditional federalist presuppositions

—R. G. McCloskey

the Puritan massacre of statues and pictures

—Robert Hughes

massacre

2 of 2

verb

massacred; massacring ˈma-si-k(ə-)riŋ 

transitive verb

1

: to kill by massacre

2

: mangle sense 2

words were misspelled and syntax massacred

—Bice Clemow

massacrer

ˈma-si-kər-ər 

-krər

noun

Synonyms

Noun

• bloodbath
• butchery
• carnage
• death
• holocaust
• slaughter

Verb

• butcher
• mow (down)
• slaughter

Examples of massacre in a Sentence

Noun

The game turned out to be a complete massacre.

the infamous massacre of more than 200 Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota

Verb

Hundreds have been massacred in the uprising.

The other team really massacred us on Saturday.

He really massacred that song.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Not long afterward, Karen came across a photograph on the internet—a tiny doll, taken from the massacre site. —Tim Madigan, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Oct. 2024

Unlike me, my grandmother knew firsthand that the sea is foremost a place of haunting, the port city one of imperial interest, and the beach one of arrivals and a site of massacres, one of which my grandfather narrowly escaped in WWII. —Zining Mok, Longreads, 22 Oct. 2024

Verb

Amid the heartbreak in Lewiston, where 18 people were massacred on the evening of Oct. 25, 2023, at a bowling alley hosting a youth night and a bar where deaf people were playing cornhole, the gunman's family contemplated remaining quietly in the shadows. —Brenda Breslauer, NBC News, 23 Oct. 2024

In the assault, 1,200 people were massacred and 251 were taken hostage (roughly 100, both alive and dead, remain in captivity). —The Editors, National Review, 7 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle French

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1578, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1581, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

massacre

1 of 2 verb

mas·​sa·​cre ˈmas-i-kər 

massacred; massacring

-k(ə-)riŋ

: to kill in a massacre : slaughter

massacrer

-i-kər-ər

-i-krər

noun

massacre

2 of 2 noun

: the violent and cruel killing of a number of persons