as in cruelty
disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others
more than one reluctant dental patient has been tempted to level the charge of barbarity against their dentist
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Recent Examples of barbarity
Amid all the barbarity for barbarity’s sake, Jonsson carries the film with a deep well of unspoken regret.
—
Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 12 Sep. 2025
Netanyahu is the excuse for staying silent about Israeli barbarity in Palestine.
—Uriel Kon
september 2, Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2025
The vast majority of us see that as an act of cultural barbarity.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 15 Aug. 2025
The massacre was celebrated in Western capitals, with protests erupting in support of Hamas’s barbarity.
—William C. Daroff, Sun Sentinel, 11 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for barbarity
Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 12 Sep. 2025
Netanyahu is the excuse for staying silent about Israeli barbarity in Palestine.
—Uriel Kon
september 2, Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2025
The vast majority of us see that as an act of cultural barbarity.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 15 Aug. 2025
The massacre was celebrated in Western capitals, with protests erupting in support of Hamas’s barbarity.
—William C. Daroff, Sun Sentinel, 11 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for barbarity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barbarity
Noun
-
Two swaggering outlaws roll into a mining town and unleash a wave of cruelty.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
20 Jan. 2026
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Erie police are working with the shelter's cruelty team to get justice for the husky pup, named Aimee after the Erie police dispatcher who took the original call.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
20 Jan. 2026
Noun
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For some residents, Good’s killing reopened deep wounds in a city still reckoning with the police murder of George Floyd, which occurred just blocks away in May 2020 and sparked nationwide protests against police brutality.—
Nicole Acevedo,
NBC news,
10 Jan. 2026
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Captured on video, the incident would bring national tensions over police brutality to a head, igniting months of demonstrations around the country.—
Marc Ramirez,
USA Today,
10 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Barbarity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barbarity. Accessed 24 Jan. 2026.
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