Definition of SANGUINARY

Examples of sanguinary in a Sentence

a movie so sanguinary that I covered my eyes during at least half of it

Recent Examples of sanguinary from the Web

For months the armies have fought battles more sanguinary than Waterloo without making progress except in terms of yards.

— darren orf, Popular Mechanics, "100 Years Later: Popular Mechanics' Coverage of World War I," 6 Apr. 2017

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

Origin and Etymology of sanguinary

Latin sanguinarius, from sanguin-, sanguis blood

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First Known Use: circa 1623

See Words from the same year

sanguinary Synonyms

Synonyms

bloody, bloody-minded, homicidal, murdering, murderous, bloodthirsty, sanguine, sanguineous

Near Antonyms

appeasing, conciliatory, disarming, dovish, mollifying, pacific, pacifying, peaceable, peaceful, peacemaking, placating, placative, placatory, propitiatory; unaggressive, unassertive; benign, benignant, compassionate, good-hearted, humane, kind, kindhearted, sympathetic, tenderhearted; tender, warm, warmhearted; clement, lenient, merciful; affable, amiable, amicable, benevolent, gentle, kindly; submissive, surrendering, yielding

Synonym Discussion of sanguinary

bloody, sanguinary, gory mean affected by or involving the shedding of blood. bloody is applied especially to things that are actually covered with blood or are made up of blood. bloody hands sanguinary applies especially to something attended by, or someone inclined to, bloodshed. the Civil War was America's most sanguinary conflict gory suggests a profusion of blood and slaughter. exceptionally gory, even for a horror movie

sanguinary