Synonyms of butchering

butchering

verb

present participle of butcher

1

as in slaughtering

to kill on a large scale

the barbarians butchered the monks in the monasteries without mercy

Synonyms & Similar Words

• slaughtering
• murdering
• massacring
• slaying
• executing
• destroying
• dispatching
• mowing (down)
• assassinating
• eradicating
• exterminating
• demolishing
• wasting
• smiting
• felling
• wiping out
• devastating
• snuffing
• annihilating
• decimating
• doing in
• croaking
• blotting out

2

as in fumbling

to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way

the new piano student butchered the sonatina

Synonyms & Similar Words

• fumbling
• blowing
• murdering
• mangling
• dubbing
• ruining
• destroying
• botching
• bungling
• spoiling
• booting
• fluffing
• boggling
• bumbling
• marring
• screwing up
• mutilating
• flubbing
• damaging
• bobbling
• wrecking
• mucking up
• muffing
• goofing (up)
• injuring
• fouling up
• messing (up)
• blundering
• buggering (up)
• foozling
• hurting
• impairing
• harming
• bollixing (up)
• muddling
• lousing up
• blighting
• gumming (up)
• vitiating
• mismanaging
• flawing
• blemishing
• piffling
• mishandling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• improving
• helping
• enhancing
• refining
• reforming
• rectifying
• bettering
• remedying
• ameliorating
• repairing
• fixing
• doctoring
• renovating
• revamping
• reconditioning
• meliorating
• patching

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of butchering

During that collection and delivery, one or two animals are donated for harvest, or butchering, to Native American communities. — Christa Swanson, CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026

The butchering thing was a major complaint because the Commandos were expected to live off the land after their first day's rations ran out. — David Szondy august 30, New Atlas, 30 Aug. 2026

Indirect signs also suggest the proto-Neolithic community also dined on the European glass lizard (Pseudopus apodus), which featured tough scales that necessitated a completely different type of butchering. — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 20 Aug. 2026

Elephants are widely adored by many people today — but a recent study suggests early humans were butchering them for survival nearly 2 million years ago. — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 14 Aug. 2026

With more than 3 billion users, WhatsApp is among the largest areas of scam activity, like wire transfers and pig butchering scams. — Stevie Bonifield, The Verge, 13 Aug. 2026

Bornemann had spent the day butchering a whole lamb and sent out family-style bowls of handmade pasta under lamb ragù. — David Hochman, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026

The theory is that individuals became infected by a strain that was particularly lethal to the young through close contact with marmots (rodents that are known reservoirs of the plague), perhaps while butchering them. — The Week Uk, TheWeek, 6 July 2026

Normally, that involves making stone tools, butchering deer, or distilling birch tar. — ArsTechnica, 2 June 2026