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
Have Western progressives finally woken up to the regime’s brutality?
—
Dan Bilefsky, HollywoodReporter, 21 Jan. 2026
On immigration enforcement—Trump’s signature issue—the brutality and clumsiness of the mass-deportation campaign has decreased public support for the president’s agenda and increased the number of Americans who strongly disapprove of ICE.
—Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic, 20 Jan. 2026
The most notable case of political activism in the NFL in the last decade came when Colin Kaepernick, protesting police brutality, refused to stand for the national anthem.
—Joseph Strauss, Sun Sentinel, 20 Jan. 2026
Within that economy of surveillance, outrage, and emotion, images of the clergy mostly exist to show the brutality of the state.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Dan Bilefsky, HollywoodReporter, 21 Jan. 2026
On immigration enforcement—Trump’s signature issue—the brutality and clumsiness of the mass-deportation campaign has decreased public support for the president’s agenda and increased the number of Americans who strongly disapprove of ICE.
—Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic, 20 Jan. 2026
The most notable case of political activism in the NFL in the last decade came when Colin Kaepernick, protesting police brutality, refused to stand for the national anthem.
—Joseph Strauss, Sun Sentinel, 20 Jan. 2026
Within that economy of surveillance, outrage, and emotion, images of the clergy mostly exist to show the brutality of the state.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutality
Noun
-
The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office announced Monday that Hunter Roy will serve six years behind bars after pleading guilty to cruelty to animals and endangering the welfare of a child.—
Brian Niemietz,
New York Daily News,
26 Jan. 2026
-
There was an implicit cruelty behind the exercise.—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
24 Jan. 2026
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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All three play key roles in the library scene—in which Walker’s revolutionaries, seeking justice for a racial atrocity, hold Morgan’s collection hostage—but none had visited the real thing, on Thirty-sixth Street.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
26 Jan. 2026
-
The city saw some of the terror group’s worst atrocities.—
Tim Lister,
CNN Money,
18 Jan. 2026
Noun
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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
-
In other words, humans can act against the animal component of their nature and manifest their humanity by rejecting their animality.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Nov. 2025
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This strangeness causes all sorts of internal agitation, an uneasiness about humanity’s closeness to animality.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
16 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Brutality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutality. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
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