1
as in cruelty
disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others
the police were accused of brutality for using excessive force in making arrests
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in brutishness
the manifestation of the traits or the gratification of the appetites of a lower animal
the disconcerting ease with which the people adopted the brutality of the enemy invaders
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of brutality
One sequence, in particular, rivals any Game of Thrones battle in its epic scope, its graphic brutality and its surely astronomical VFX budget.
—
Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 7 Apr. 2025
Zoom out: Gun sales spiked nationwide starting in 2020 amid climbing homicide rates, protests over police brutality, and a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes.
—Mike D'onofrio, Axios, 2 Apr. 2025
Hate and rationalization of all the provenances of brutality.
—David Bezmozgis, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2025
The case has drawn national attention to issues of police brutality and racial bias, particularly in how law enforcement engages with individuals with disabilities.
—Essence, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 7 Apr. 2025
Zoom out: Gun sales spiked nationwide starting in 2020 amid climbing homicide rates, protests over police brutality, and a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes.
—Mike D'onofrio, Axios, 2 Apr. 2025
Hate and rationalization of all the provenances of brutality.
—David Bezmozgis, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2025
The case has drawn national attention to issues of police brutality and racial bias, particularly in how law enforcement engages with individuals with disabilities.
—Essence, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutality
Noun
-
There’s a great line: Honesty without compassion equals cruelty.—
Jayson Jenks,
New York Times,
26 Apr. 2025
-
In each of these films, cruelty commingles with tenderness, and hideous acts take place against backdrops of often stunning natural beauty.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
25 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
But slightly lesser known is that film’s sort-of sequel, The Look of Silence, which tells the stories of victims of such atrocities.—
Travis Bean,
Forbes.com,
25 Apr. 2025
-
Too often, shooters use unsecured weapons to commit these atrocities.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
22 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Hope is something that Dior’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri can related to, having explored the dualities of hope and despair (as well as lightness and darkness, and fluidity and animalism) in her spring 2023 collection.—
Rosemary Feitelberg,
WWD,
22 Jan. 2025
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All of a sudden, that animalism has been incarnated.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
25 Mar. 2024
Noun
-
This strangeness causes all sorts of internal agitation, an uneasiness about humanity’s closeness to animality.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
16 Feb. 2025
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But also, something more intrinsic — something like her animality.—
Camille Bromley Gabra Zackman Krish Seenivasan David Mason,
New York Times,
6 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Brutality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutality. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
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