as in headed
to cut off the head of
a particularly gruesome series of murders in which the victims were decapitated
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Recent Examples of decapitated
The statue was decapitated in late 2022, though its head has since been reattached.
—
Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 6 Mar. 2026
Her body was found in a duffel bag, nearly decapitated, police said.
—Chicago Tribune, 4 Mar. 2026
With much of Iran’s leadership decapitated, power will likely be exercised behind the scenes by the IRGC, which has increasingly propped up the regime over decades.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 1 Mar. 2026
One day, Clark, who rides his recumbent bike into the city, is reporting on a cyclone when he nearly gets decapitated by a flying stop sign.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 27 Feb. 2026
After the cartel’s leadership was decapitated by Mexican security forces, Mencho took matters into his own hands by creating a new faction that would come to be known as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
—Daniel Depetris, Mercury News, 26 Feb. 2026
Williams said the body had not been decapitated or frozen, as some news outlets have reported.
—Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2026
There’s one splashingly gory sequence, when Maria (Matilda De Angelis), Dracula’s first disciple, goes demon and gets decapitated and staked-through-the-heart.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 7 Feb. 2026
With this regime change operation, the government of Venezuela has been decapitated.
—Keir Simmons, NBC news, 3 Jan. 2026
Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 6 Mar. 2026
Her body was found in a duffel bag, nearly decapitated, police said.
—Chicago Tribune, 4 Mar. 2026
With much of Iran’s leadership decapitated, power will likely be exercised behind the scenes by the IRGC, which has increasingly propped up the regime over decades.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 1 Mar. 2026
One day, Clark, who rides his recumbent bike into the city, is reporting on a cyclone when he nearly gets decapitated by a flying stop sign.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 27 Feb. 2026
After the cartel’s leadership was decapitated by Mexican security forces, Mencho took matters into his own hands by creating a new faction that would come to be known as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
—Daniel Depetris, Mercury News, 26 Feb. 2026
Williams said the body had not been decapitated or frozen, as some news outlets have reported.
—Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2026
There’s one splashingly gory sequence, when Maria (Matilda De Angelis), Dracula’s first disciple, goes demon and gets decapitated and staked-through-the-heart.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 7 Feb. 2026
With this regime change operation, the government of Venezuela has been decapitated.
—Keir Simmons, NBC news, 3 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for decapitated
Verb
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Sontag, by contrast, was headed toward a kind of eroticized aestheticism.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
14 Mar. 2026
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Attacks on Gulf states continued Friday with Saudi Arabia's defense ministry saying its air defenses downed more than three dozen drones headed toward the kingdom's Eastern Province over the span of a few hours, marking an unusually large barrage.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
13 Mar. 2026
Verb
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After years of scrutiny and criticism over his ties with Epstein, his arrest was the first for a senior royal since Charles I, who was beheaded for treason in 1649.—
Alexander Smith,
NBC news,
20 Feb. 2026
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The last senior member of Britain’s royal family to be arrested in connection with a serious crime was King Charles I, who was beheaded for treason in 1649 following his defeat in the English Civil War.—
Rafi Schwartz,
TheWeek,
20 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Decapitated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decapitated. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
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