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
Berserk is a beautiful but dark franchise, a series defined as much by Miura’s indelible designs as by the twisted brutality its characters must overcome.
—
Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025
Leone’s creation has gained a substantial cult following thanks to its throwback grindhouse aesthetics, nauseating practical effects, and unapologetic brutality.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025
Despite a complete media and communications blackout, making specifics hard to determine, videos trickled out of El Fasher showing the brutality being unleashed on the civilian population.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 30 Oct. 2025
Prosecutors, however, say the brutality of the killings warrant jurors sending Dennis back to Death Row.
—Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 30 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025
Leone’s creation has gained a substantial cult following thanks to its throwback grindhouse aesthetics, nauseating practical effects, and unapologetic brutality.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025
Despite a complete media and communications blackout, making specifics hard to determine, videos trickled out of El Fasher showing the brutality being unleashed on the civilian population.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 30 Oct. 2025
Prosecutors, however, say the brutality of the killings warrant jurors sending Dennis back to Death Row.
—Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 30 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutality
Noun
-
Pardo Bazán’s themes are fear, love, hatred, forgiveness, cruelty, repentance, homesickness, and madness—that is, naked reality as experienced across social strata in her time.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Nov. 2025
-
The punishment doesn't match the cruelty of your actions.—
Cameron Knight,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Likewise, young Waller proves a revelation, capable of communicating Danny’s vulnerability and brutishness on the turn of a dime.—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Sep. 2025
Noun
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These satellite images from late October appearing to show bodies in the streets and bloodstains on the ground, gruesome signs of the atrocities visible from space.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 Nov. 2025
-
Raymond’s team has been tracking atrocities in Sudan using satellite imagery from NASA and commercial sources.—
Nicolas Niarchos,
New Yorker,
7 Nov. 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 15 Nov. 2025.
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