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
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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
The names of Ambrose and others identified by former officers as Wolverines were staples in complaints and brutality cases that dogged Elkhart in the 1980s and 1990s, records show.
—
Kristine Phillips, IndyStar, 4 July 2025
There is a temptation, less today than in the past, to glorify war while glossing over or ignoring the inherent brutality of the practice of organized killing of opposing armed forces, plus civilians.
—Arthur I. Cyr, Chicago Tribune, 2 July 2025
Kenyans demonstrated Wednesday in 23 of 47 counties across the country calling for an end to police brutality and better governance.
—Evelyne Musambi, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2025
Pellegrino does get into the brutality of the Japanese forces.
—Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Kristine Phillips, IndyStar, 4 July 2025
There is a temptation, less today than in the past, to glorify war while glossing over or ignoring the inherent brutality of the practice of organized killing of opposing armed forces, plus civilians.
—Arthur I. Cyr, Chicago Tribune, 2 July 2025
Kenyans demonstrated Wednesday in 23 of 47 counties across the country calling for an end to police brutality and better governance.
—Evelyne Musambi, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2025
Pellegrino does get into the brutality of the Japanese forces.
—Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutality
Noun
-
The new law adds to existing municipal ordinances that forbid animal cruelty or neglect, including leaving a pet in too small of a space or outside in the hot Florida sun.—
Shira Moolten,
Sun Sentinel,
3 July 2025
-
Miller faces four counts of cruelty to a companion animal and 34 counts of complicity.—
Aaron Valdez,
The Enquirer,
2 July 2025
Noun
-
While Israel has every right to defend itself and respond to the atrocities of Oct. 7th, nothing can justify the horrors currently committed in Gaza.—
Ayelet Gundar-Goshen,
Time,
7 July 2025
-
Some three decades after the genocide in Srebrenica, there are several early warning signs and risk factors indicating the serious risk of atrocity crimes in the region.—
Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab,
Forbes.com,
6 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 15 Jul. 2025.
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