as in brutality
the desire to kill or to see people killed
warriors inflamed by bloodlust
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Recent Examples of bloodlust
The film’s most unsettling scenes connect Hans' murder spree with the bloodlust of the German public, foreshadowing the Nazis’ rise to power just a few years later.
—
Katie Rife, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
Related Stories The film follows Alok Goyal, a journalist who transforms into a vampiric creature called Betal after encountering a mysterious woman, and must save humanity from the bloodlust of an ancient evil.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 29 Oct. 2025
There is very obviously no excuse for the kinds of posts and commentary Tyler was known for early in his career, but the internet is fueled by bloodlust, not justice.
—Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2025
The media entertains these questions, in an effort to intellectualize the ideologies underpinning the cult’s bloodlust.
—Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 20 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bloodlust
Katie Rife, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
Related Stories The film follows Alok Goyal, a journalist who transforms into a vampiric creature called Betal after encountering a mysterious woman, and must save humanity from the bloodlust of an ancient evil.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 29 Oct. 2025
There is very obviously no excuse for the kinds of posts and commentary Tyler was known for early in his career, but the internet is fueled by bloodlust, not justice.
—Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2025
The media entertains these questions, in an effort to intellectualize the ideologies underpinning the cult’s bloodlust.
—Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 20 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bloodlust
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bloodlust
Noun
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This includes re-enshrining, codifying and strengthening our inalienable rights in the United States and abolishing ICE to ensure immigration and the struggle of migrants is treated as a civilian one, requiring support instead of brutality and criminalization.—
Lucas Robinson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 May 2026
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Although their relationship begins as a love story, the book brings home the profits of Jacob’s earlier brutality—fate catches up to him, and everything that is love and passion sort of spoils into wrath and obsession.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
6 May 2026
Noun
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The guy was a sleaze, but there’s a pretty big gap between sleaziness and murderousness.—
Sophie Brookover,
Vulture,
12 Dec. 2025
Noun
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The findings can’t be extrapolated to the real world — the scenarios were extreme, with the regimes often facing first strikes or annihilation — but revealed AIs’ skill at strategic reasoning, as well as a certain bloodthirstiness.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Trump’s petulance, meanness, and willingness to punish a religious institution for its Church’s moral witness is a warning to every faith community in America.—
Stephen Underwood,
Hartford Courant,
19 Apr. 2026
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Would there be perpetual meanness and the absence of kindness toward each other as human beings?—
Kevin Powell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Adapted for television by Adolescence co-creator, Emmy winner Jack Thorne, in Lord of the Flies, innocence descends into savagery when a group of English schoolboys becomes desert island castaways.—
Denise Petski,
Deadline,
6 Apr. 2026
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After the war, in sober reflection, the United States helped lead a global effort to try to tame the savagery of conflict and, in particular, to shield civilians.—
Nicholas D. Kristof,
Mercury News,
18 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Her staging of Schiaparelli’s work exposes illusion, cost, and cruelty.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 May 2026
-
That’s the charm and cruelty of the NBA Draft Lottery.—
C.J. Holmes,
New York Daily News,
8 May 2026
Noun
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An extra-dark comedy that veers toward sadism, the film is saved by the chemistry and star power of Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas (fresh off their Romancing the Stone series), with an assist from an excellent Danny DeVito.—
Debby Wolfinsohn,
Entertainment Weekly,
13 Apr. 2026
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Over Your Dead Body is not for the faint of heart, but give or take a rape threat that crosses the line into smug sadism without quite seeming to realize it, the violence lands as more comically cartoonish than horrific.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The Emperor’s battle arena, for example, is a marvel of moody set design, its barbarity brought to life by the throngs of people crowding to watch the action from atop its grated roof.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
22 Apr. 2026
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Even when there is little to celebrate in a world marked by barbarity, these events invite us to be together and, briefly, to look, feel, admire, and even disagree within a temporary gathering of images and spaces.—
Raphael Fonseca,
Artforum,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bloodlust.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bloodlust. Accessed 14 May. 2026.
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