Synonyms of decapitate

decapitate

verb

di-ˈka-pə-ˌtāt 

as in to head

to cut off the head of

a particularly gruesome series of murders in which the victims were decapitated

Synonyms & Similar Words

• head
• behead
• trim
• shorten
• guillotine
• scalp
• prune
• decollate

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of decapitate

With Hamas decimated, Lebanon’s Hezbollah largely decapitated, the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria toppled, and Shiite militias in Iraq avoiding conflict with Israel, the other members of Iran’s once powerful axis of resistance are severely weakened. —April Longley Alley, Foreign Affairs, 18 Dec. 2025

China’s consul general in Osaka, Xue Jian posted, and later deleted, a tweet appearing to threaten to decapitate the prime minister. —Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Nov. 2025

Apart from Ciri, who assumed the fake name Falka and spent the season with the group, the Rats are extremely dead — not just slaughtered by Leo Bonhart but decapitated with each of their heads sawed off and dumped into a barrel for preservation. —Scott Meslow, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025

Sources told the Herald that the targets — which could be struck by air in a matter of days or even hours — also aim to decapitate the cartel’s hierarchy. —Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 31 Oct. 2025