BUTCHERING Synonyms: 82 Similar and Opposite Words

butchering

verb

present participle of butcher

as in slaughtering

to kill on a large scale the barbarians butchered the monks in the monasteries without mercy

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in fumbling

to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way the new piano student butchered the sonatina

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of butchering 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 Newmark warns that the pig-butchering problem is likely to get worse thanks to AI. — Rob Pegoraro, PC Magazine, 1 June 2026 ProPublica has chronicled the dark world of pig butchering, in which human traffickers in Asia force their victims to scam people by posing as friends or potential romantic interests. — Robert Faturechi, ProPublica, 11 Apr. 2026 While pig butchering operations are veering toward the sophisticated and professional, horrendous abuses persist. — Charlie Campbell, Time, 7 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for butchering

Verb

But when his ice cream-eating schoolmates begin slaughtering their parents overnight, seemingly fueled by the wafting sound of the truck jingle and old-timey black-and-white animations invading their phones, Jared seems like the lucky one.

— Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2026
Disease had significantly weakened Tenochtitlán’s ability to withstand Cortés’s siege, and the Europeans eventually wore the Aztec warriors down and broke through the city’s defenses, slaughtering the Aztecs and destroying the city.

— Jordana Rosenfeld, Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 June 2026

Definition of slaughtering

Verb

Most of the world was fumbling and scared, and Fauci seemed to have some idea of what to do.

— Amy Davidson Sorkin, New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2026
Achane, the Miami Dolphins’ starting tailback, was referring to Ollie Gordon II fumbling the ball away in Wednesday practice, the team’s first of training camp.

— Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 30 July 2026

Definition of fumbling

Verb

Since then, more suits across the country have followed, blowing huge holes into NCAA eligibility rules, new and old.

— Justin Williams, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Although skies are still smoky across portions of the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies, not much is blowing east of there.

— Ben Noll, Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of blowing

Verb

Statham plays a former marine who has to prove his innocence after he’s framed for murdering his billionaire boss.

— Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 19 Aug. 2026
Tyrone Noling, who was convicted in 1996 of murdering an elderly couple and has maintained his innocence, is pictured June 15, 2005, in Mansfield, Ohio.

— CBS News, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of murdering

Verb

Complex documents with tables, charts and mixed content need each content type scored separately, since a model can nail text while mangling a table.

— Sriram Bhargav Madhav, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
Blade grinders function more like blenders, frantically whirring in circles, mangling the beans, and tossing them all over the grinding chamber.

— Noah Kaufman, Bon Appetit Magazine, 20 May 2026

Definition of mangling

Verb

Balfe also navigates challenges like spatial audio mixing, where collaboration with dubbing mixers is crucial.

— Benny Har-Even, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2026
New and upcoming titles under the deal will carry English subtitles and dubbing in the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 27 July 2026

Definition of dubbing

Verb

The show was filmed across Northern Ireland, and the weather proved to be brutal, with the rain constantly destroying sets that had to be rebuilt.

— Matt Minton, Variety, 18 Aug. 2026
The Ukrainian defenders repelled the attack and posted video footage of their kamikaze drone strikes destroying at least seven T-72B3A tanks, including some that carried the Arena-M system, according to Euromaidan Press.

— Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of destroying

Browse Nearby Words

butcheries

butchering

butcherly

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Butchering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/butchering. Accessed 24 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of butchering

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster on butchering

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

expeditious

Popular in Grammar & Usage

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 21

16 Glee-ridden Words from Schitt's Creek

Popular

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes