as in slaughter
the killing of a large number of people
the infamous massacre of more than 200 Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota
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as in to slaughter
to kill on a large scale
the country's rival ethnic groups began massacring one another
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of massacre
Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 9 June 2025
While the Pahalgam massacre triggered Jews with flashbacks to October 7, October 7, in turn, triggered Hindus with flashbacks to the sadistic butchery in Kashmir over three decades ago.
—Tom Rogers, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 June 2025
Faisal Kutty, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 May 2025
In March, Sunni Islamist gangs massacred Alawites on the Syrian coast, in attacks that left well over 1,000 people dead.
—Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 14 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for massacre
Noun
The image is part odalisque, part massacre, and as red as a Pope’s vestments.
—Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 9 June 2025
While the Pahalgam massacre triggered Jews with flashbacks to October 7, October 7, in turn, triggered Hindus with flashbacks to the sadistic butchery in Kashmir over three decades ago.
—Tom Rogers, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 June 2025
Verb
When civil war broke out in Libya in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring, the U.S. and European countries launched an air war against Libya to prevent Gaddafi from massacring opponents of his government.
—Faisal Kutty, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 May 2025
In March, Sunni Islamist gangs massacred Alawites on the Syrian coast, in attacks that left well over 1,000 people dead.
—Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 14 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for massacre
Recent Examples of Synonyms for massacre
slaughter
Noun
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Third, in the face of such facts, a deportation of Afghans back to Afghanistan would be nothing short of a slaughter.—
David Peduto,
Baltimore Sun,
11 June 2025
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His cases there included the successful prosecution — in a 25-month trial — of a Croatian general who ordered the slaughter of Muslim noncombatants.—
Dan Sullivan,
The Orlando Sentinel,
27 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Massacre.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/massacre. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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