Synonym Chooser

How is the word barbarous different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of barbarous are cruel, ferocious, fierce, and savage. While all these words mean "showing fury or malignity in looks or actions," barbarous implies a ferocity or mercilessness regarded as unworthy of civilized people.

barbarous treatment of prisoners

When might cruel be a better fit than barbarous?

The words cruel and barbarous can be used in similar contexts, but cruel implies indifference to suffering and even positive pleasure in inflicting it.

the cruel jokes of schoolboys

When is ferocious a more appropriate choice than barbarous?

In some situations, the words ferocious and barbarous are roughly equivalent. However, ferocious implies extreme fierceness and unrestrained violence and brutality.

a ferocious dog

When is it sensible to use fierce instead of barbarous?

While in some cases nearly identical to barbarous, fierce applies to humans and animals that inspire terror because of their wild and menacing aspect or fury in attack.

fierce warriors

When can savage be used instead of barbarous?

The words savage and barbarous are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, savage implies the absence of inhibitions restraining civilized people filled with rage, lust, or other violent passion.

a savage criminal

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of barbarous Any slip-up or act of insubordination, no matter how small, results in immediate death from the barbarous SS members running the camp. Josh Weiss, Forbes, 17 Mar. 2025 Experts told PolitiFact such narratives painting Haiti as a barbarous country are not new and are racist attempts to dehumanize Haitians. Jeff Cercone, Austin American-Statesman, 14 Sep. 2024 Treating barbarous body horror as something embedded in us deeper than the mutual love of a partner, especially when it’s done without the theatrical or exploitation trappings, makes for one of the New French Extremity’s most troubling works. Rory Doherty, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2024 How does Reed manage to revisit some of the world’s most barbarous acts without succumbing to despair? K.j. Yossman, Variety, 9 Oct. 2024 See All Example Sentences for barbarous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barbarous
Adjective
  • The Royals lost to the Dodgers on Friday night, a brutal 5-4 loss as Jac Caglianone grounded into a double play to conclude the 11th straight home loss.
    Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 28 June 2025
  • The 28-year-old is playing on a medical exemption after a brutal stretch of injuries and illness.
    Devlina Sarkar, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 June 2025
Adjective
  • The economy will not thrive on backward, barbarian technologies and our babies will suffer from the burden of debt, bad air and blackouts.
    Letters to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 26 June 2025
  • Built on the site of an ancient Roman fortress that protected the empire from barbarian invasion, the castle was constructed between the 11th and 14th centuries.
    CNN.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 10 June 2025
Adjective
  • What is a totalitarian leader other than an individualist taking that creed to its cruel conclusions, erasing the uniqueness of every other person into mere characters in a drama?
    Ed Simon June 23, Literary Hub, 23 June 2025
  • This realization reconfigures the entire book, recasting their ongoing dialogue and seemingly cordial relations as an interstellar jail—and the novel itself into an extended, especially cruel prison sentence.
    Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 21 June 2025
Adjective
  • And even if that feels rude by the standards of today, people were forced to answer her questions and answer to the things that the public wanted to know.
    Alex Jhamb Burns, Vogue, 23 June 2025
  • There are so many things that can be off or what if just the woman walks in and just is not attracted to the guy or the man is rude to the waiter.
    Steve Baltin, Forbes.com, 21 June 2025
Adjective
  • The 2023 grand marshal is former Arizona Democratic congresswoman Gabby Giffords, gravely wounded in a savage mass shooting in 2011 that also killed six people.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 27 Dec. 2022
  • As savage Arctic cold was getting ready to surge south across North America, vivid imagery based on data from weather models showed us what was going to happen.
    Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 27 Dec. 2022
Adjective
  • The final product is an unpredictable, wild ride full of suspense, fun, and classic horror gore.
    Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 26 June 2025
  • Top Gun: Maverick had a 96% critic score and a wild 99% audience score, one of the best for a blockbuster in a decade, at least.
    Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025
Adjective
  • This approach costs three times more than housing people and creates a vicious cycle — incarceration increases homelessness risk by destroying community connections and employment prospects.
    Mahdi E Diab, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 June 2025
  • Of course, no conversation about Yellowjackets season 3 would be complete without a deep dive into Shauna's vicious throw down with Swank's Melissa — during which Shauna rips a chunk of flesh off Melissa's arm with her teeth and forces her to eat it.
    EW.com, EW.com, 19 June 2025
Adjective
  • Houde said these mammoth animals are a primitive group of proboscideans ('elephantoids') from which modern elephants evolved.
    Joseph J. Kolb, Fox News, 18 July 2017
  • Many are primitive and remote, and don’t have restrooms or water.
    OregonLive.com, OregonLive.com, 12 July 2017

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Cite this Entry

“Barbarous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barbarous. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.

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