murderous

mur·der·ous | \ ˈmər-d(ə-)rəs

How to pronounce murderous (audio)

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Definition of murderous

1a : having the purpose or capability of murder

b : characterized by or causing murder or bloodshed

2 : having the ability or power to overwhelm : devastating murderous heat

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Examples of murderous in a Sentence

I can't stand this murderous heat. The lead runner set a murderous pace.

Recent Examples on the Web Still, not many juvenile delinquents quote Milton to justify a murderous rampage. — Philip Brandes, Los Angeles Times, "Review: In ‘Frankenstein’ at A Noise Within, a harrowing performance pulses with humanity," 23 Aug. 2019 Police also released the full list of those fatally shot in Sunday morning’s murderous rampage. — Michael Zennie, Time, "Dayton Shooting Lasted Just 32 Seconds and Left 9 Dead. Here's the Latest on the Tragedy," 5 Aug. 2019 These are murderous terrorists with American blood on their hands. — Marc A. Thiessen, The Mercury News, "Thiessen: Imagine if Obama had sought a photo op with terrorists," 12 Sep. 2019 In Tigers Are Not Afraid (now available to watch on Shudder), young actress Paola Lara plays an orphan named Estrella who joins a gang of kids in an unnamed Mexican town and attempts to evade the murderous attentions of a drug cartel. — Clark Collis, EW.com, "Tigers Are Not Afraid director recommends three modern horror movie classics," 12 Sep. 2019 Dorian's murderous 40-hour stall over Grand Bahama on Sunday and Monday is something weather experts had not seen. — oregonlive, "Hurricane Dorian takes aim at Carolinas; relief effort underway in Bahamas," 4 Sep. 2019 Salander's antisocial behaviors include tossing a Molotov cocktail at her murderous Russian spy father and watching him burn to a crisp in the front seat of his Mercedes. — Richard Lipez, Dallas News, "Lisbeth Salander is back -- and angrier than ever," 26 Aug. 2019 The cancellation of the show has murderous consequences. — Briana Rice, Cincinnati.com, "Banana Splits has a new movie, and surprise! It's a horror film," 21 Aug. 2019 Laura Plyler is Lady Macbeth, the ruthlessly ambitious woman whose relentless goading unleashes the murderous tyrant in her husband. — sun-sentinel.com, "Review: A dark and earnest ‘Macbeth’ from New City Players," 16 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'murderous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near murderous

murdering piece

Statistics for murderous

Last Updated

26 Oct 2019

Time Traveler for murderous

The first known use of murderous was in 1535

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More Definitions for murderous

murderous

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of murderous

: very violent or deadly

: very angry

: very harsh or severe

See the full definition for murderous in the English Language Learners Dictionary

murderous

mur·der·ous | \ ˈmər-də-rəs

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Kids Definition of murderous

1 : intending or capable of causing murder : deadly a murderous attack

2 : very hard to bear or withstand murderous heat

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