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
Widespread protests force Indonesia U-turn Indonesia was engulfed by widespread protests driven by economic discontent and opposition to police brutality, marking the greatest challenge yet to President Prabowo Subianto’s government.
—
Brendan Ruberry, semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Authorities, however, have been criticized for the brutality of their actions since the past week, which resulted in Affan’s death as well as the arrest of more than 1,000 individuals suspected of taking part in the protests.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 1 Sep. 2025
Safdie’s direction balances the brutality of the ring w/ a humane & heartfelt narrative.
—James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Sep. 2025
Hamza Namira is an Egyptian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music rose to prominence during the 25 January revolution in 2011, a day of nonviolent protests against increasing police brutality during the last few years of Hosni Mubarak’s presidency.
—Anne Gelhaus, Mercury News, 31 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Brendan Ruberry, semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Authorities, however, have been criticized for the brutality of their actions since the past week, which resulted in Affan’s death as well as the arrest of more than 1,000 individuals suspected of taking part in the protests.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 1 Sep. 2025
Safdie’s direction balances the brutality of the ring w/ a humane & heartfelt narrative.
—James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Sep. 2025
Hamza Namira is an Egyptian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music rose to prominence during the 25 January revolution in 2011, a day of nonviolent protests against increasing police brutality during the last few years of Hosni Mubarak’s presidency.
—Anne Gelhaus, Mercury News, 31 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutality
Noun
-
Such rhetoric has fostered a climate where cruelty is normalized.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
2 Sep. 2025
-
His anguished mother insisted on an open-casket ceremony to show the world the gruesome cruelty of lynching.—
Lorenzino Estrada,
AZCentral.com,
29 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
What if the atrocities amount to genocide?—
Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab,
Forbes.com,
7 Sep. 2025
-
So much atrocity, so much terror is unbearable.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
5 Sep. 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 10 Sep. 2025.
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