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
The Illusion of Destiny Why is the world racked by barbarity and violence?
—
Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2024
In the face of tragedy and crisis and inequality and barbarity, artists make work.
—Chadd Scott, Forbes, 2 Oct. 2024
Rupturing the viewer’s passive gaze, Yellowjackets’ gut-wrenching barbarity is situated in these corporeal incisions and dissections.
—Sakhi Thirani, JSTOR Daily, 22 Mar. 2023
The Russian president also encouraged acts of barbarity against his critics.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2022
See All Example Sentences for barbarity
Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2024
In the face of tragedy and crisis and inequality and barbarity, artists make work.
—Chadd Scott, Forbes, 2 Oct. 2024
Rupturing the viewer’s passive gaze, Yellowjackets’ gut-wrenching barbarity is situated in these corporeal incisions and dissections.
—Sakhi Thirani, JSTOR Daily, 22 Mar. 2023
The Russian president also encouraged acts of barbarity against his critics.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2022
See All Example Sentences for barbarity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barbarity
Noun
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Is the austerity of her work simply regurgitated cruelty?—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
6 May 2025
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His father, Colin Gray, 54, has been indicted on 29 felonies including two counts of second-degree murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of cruelty to children.—
Devon M. Sayers,
CNN Money,
6 May 2025
Noun
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Set in Los Angeles in 2018, with police brutality and the early stages of the Black Lives Matter movement very firmly part of its zeitgeist, Forever begins with Keisha Clark (Lovie Simone) and Justin Edwards (Michael Cooper Jr.) unexpectedly reconnecting at a New Year’s Eve party.—
Ebonie Walker,
Refinery29,
12 May 2025
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The Israeli government is indeed openly promising to commit horrific crimes against Palestinian civilians — brutality even above what the world has seen for the past year and a half.—
Zack Beauchamp,
Vox,
12 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Barbarity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barbarity. Accessed 23 May. 2025.
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