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
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 brutality
That Hamas is so despicable or dangerous that its destruction is worth brutality.
—
Seth Lavin, Chicago Tribune, 6 Aug. 2025
Most of these women, like most Argentineans, didn’t immediately grasp the extent of the regime’s brutality in targeting a generation in order to eradicate a political ideology—not even those who, like Rosa, had lived through each dictatorship since the first military takeover, in 1930.
—Graciela Mochkofsky, New Yorker, 31 July 2025
Assad’s Syria, for all its brutality, maintained a quiet border with Israel.
—Faisal J. Abbas, semafor.com, 28 July 2025
Stunning, historical and with acute attention to detail, this series is about the greed of men, a crushing power obsession and the brutality of war.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 1 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Seth Lavin, Chicago Tribune, 6 Aug. 2025
Most of these women, like most Argentineans, didn’t immediately grasp the extent of the regime’s brutality in targeting a generation in order to eradicate a political ideology—not even those who, like Rosa, had lived through each dictatorship since the first military takeover, in 1930.
—Graciela Mochkofsky, New Yorker, 31 July 2025
Assad’s Syria, for all its brutality, maintained a quiet border with Israel.
—Faisal J. Abbas, semafor.com, 28 July 2025
Stunning, historical and with acute attention to detail, this series is about the greed of men, a crushing power obsession and the brutality of war.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 1 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutality
Noun
-
The driver was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on suspicion of DUI and two counts of willful cruelty to a child.—
Cathie Anderson,
Sacbee.com,
12 Aug. 2025
-
Norwalk police on April 22 arrested her on one count of animal cruelty, records show.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
6 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Reports of state atrocities and abuses in Guatemala can be found in U.S. intelligence documents from the 1960s onward.—
Esther Brito Ruiz,
The Conversation,
7 Aug. 2025
-
Moreover, summoning the horrors of October 7 only brings into sharper focus the scale of Israel's atrocities.—
Alia Brahimi,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 July 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
-
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
-
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 20 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share