1
as in brutal
having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others
a monarch resorting to whatever barbarous means he deemed necessary to protect his throne
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in barbarian
not civilized
an aunt who abhors barbarous behavior such as eating with your fingers
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as in cruelty
disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others
the utter barbarousness of slavery outraged the abolitionists
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of barbarous
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
Netanyahu has voiced that idea repeatedly, both before and after the Hamas attack on October 7 — the idea that Israel is a bastion of Western civilization in an uncivilized, backward, and barbarous region.
—Vox Staff, Vox, 9 May 2024
The cruelty of Haitian gang leaders is not in dispute, nor is the widespread killing in the country during a yearslong political crisis, but the false claims about widespread cannibalism go much further in trying to paint the whole Caribbean nation as barbarous.
—David Ingram, NBC News, 13 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for barbarous
Adjective
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
Netanyahu has voiced that idea repeatedly, both before and after the Hamas attack on October 7 — the idea that Israel is a bastion of Western civilization in an uncivilized, backward, and barbarous region.
—Vox Staff, Vox, 9 May 2024
The cruelty of Haitian gang leaders is not in dispute, nor is the widespread killing in the country during a yearslong political crisis, but the false claims about widespread cannibalism go much further in trying to paint the whole Caribbean nation as barbarous.
—David Ingram, NBC News, 13 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for barbarous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barbarous
Adjective
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When local Officer and single mother Dana Cypress is unexpectedly thrown into the center of a brutal murder mystery of her own, she’s left to make sense of the chaos amidst a town gripped by fear and confusion where everyone, alive or undead, is a suspect.—
Jordan Moreau,
Variety,
12 May 2025
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Bruno Silva via first-round KO This finish was absolutely brutal.—
Brian Mazique,
Forbes.com,
11 May 2025
Adjective
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In contrast, East Asia witnessed a 300-year period of peace between the 1590s and 1894, broken only by defensive engagements against barbarian incursions and five fairly small two-state wars.—
Michael Mann,
Foreign Affairs,
13 Feb. 2012
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Based on the best-selling comic book series, the fantasy follows barbarian huntress Red Sonja, who must unite a group of unlikely warriors to face off against the evil tyrant Emperor Draygan and his deadly bride, Dark Annisia.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
16 Feb. 2025
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
Adjective
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But Church, who was profoundly affected by the 2023 Covenant school shooting in Nashville, imbues a real fear of what’s possibly around the corner in today’s cruel world.—
Joseph Hudak,
Rolling Stone,
2 May 2025
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Milano’s extensive medical history sometimes feels too cruel to detail; his only full season came as a rookie in 2017.—
Tim Graham,
New York Times,
2 May 2025
Adjective
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There is something shocking, almost rude, about comparing the aims of wardens and guards to those of curators and artists, but McKenzie has her reasons.—
Ray Mark Rinaldi,
Denver Post,
28 Apr. 2025
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But the 37-year-old doesn’t always see eye to eye with fans, at least not those who frequently heckle him, and Pham’s reaction is too often rude, crude and lewd.—
Steve Henson,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Apr. 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
Adjective
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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
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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
Adjective
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His father, the lawyer and judge John Marshall Clemens, had sunk the family’s money into land in Tennessee, and though the plan went nowhere, the impulse toward wild speculation seems to have imprinted on young Samuel Langhorne Clemens.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
9 May 2025
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The conversation soon shifted to a wild admission related to cosmetic procedures.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
9 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Barbarous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barbarous. Accessed 17 May. 2025.
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