as in massacre
the killing of a large number of people
the appalling carnage in that war-torn country requires that the outside world intervene
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Recent Examples of carnage
Prom Queen ends in carnage when Megan realizes some of the other prom queen nominees, Christy Renault (Greenblatt), Melissa (Rubin) and Debbie (Ablack) have vanished.
—
Jane Lacroix, People.com, 24 May 2025
Structurally, this is a gigantic change, perhaps even revolutionary, though the driving itself is quintessentially Mario Kart: drifting elegance, power-up carnage, albeit now featuring up to 24 competitors, which means the on-road action is set to be even more frenzied.
—Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 23 May 2025
By the end of the season, things are going to come to a head and there’s going to be some carnage and people will die.
—Lynette Rice, Deadline, 4 May 2025
Early action scenes are told in strangely oblique ways, with gunfire erupting off-screen (but little carnage shown) or else via abrupt cuts, filled in later by ultra-violent flashbacks.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 24 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for carnage
Jane Lacroix, People.com, 24 May 2025
Structurally, this is a gigantic change, perhaps even revolutionary, though the driving itself is quintessentially Mario Kart: drifting elegance, power-up carnage, albeit now featuring up to 24 competitors, which means the on-road action is set to be even more frenzied.
—Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 23 May 2025
By the end of the season, things are going to come to a head and there’s going to be some carnage and people will die.
—Lynette Rice, Deadline, 4 May 2025
Early action scenes are told in strangely oblique ways, with gunfire erupting off-screen (but little carnage shown) or else via abrupt cuts, filled in later by ultra-violent flashbacks.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 24 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for carnage
Recent Examples of Synonyms for carnage
Noun
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These included a shopping mall siege in 2013 that killed over 60, a bus hijacking in 2014 that killed 28, and a 2015 college massacre where 148 people—predominantly Christian students—were killed.—
Tom Rogers,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 June 2025
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Israel on Thursday recovered the bodies of two hostages who were abducted in the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre that ignited the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.—
Bradford Betz , Yael Rotem-Kuriel,
FOXNews.com,
5 June 2025
Noun
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His 2020 documentary Gunda, executive produced by Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix, examined the life of a pig raising a farrow of piglets who are then seized and sent to slaughter.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
6 June 2025
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At the moment, most American beef cannot be exported to Britain, in part because of the widespread practice of hormone treatment but also because of other regulations, including those covering the method of slaughter.—
Eshe Nelson,
New York Times,
15 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Carnage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/carnage. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025.
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