as in murders
the act of ending the life of someone who is very sick or injured in order to prevent any further suffering
Some called her death a mercy killing.
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mercy killings
Noun
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Unfortunately, the serial killer known as John Doe is ritualistically slaying victims by turning the seven deadly sins into symbolic, atrocious murders.—
Steven Thrash,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 Oct. 2025 -
Set against the backdrop of Los Angeles’s Night Stalker murders in 1985, this A24 film stars Mia Goth as an aspiring horror actress and peep-show star who walks into a growing den of chaos on the set of her first real film.—
Emma Specter,
Vogue,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
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However, research has shown that stand your ground laws not only increase rates of violence and homicides in states that implement them, but are disproportionately used against people of color.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
17 Oct. 2025
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The president has claimed that Democratic state and local officials have failed to protect citizens and allowed violence to spiral out of control, even as San Francisco’s crime rates have fallen in recent months and the city is on track to see the fewest homicides since the 1950s.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Among the passengers was Qahtan Khalil, director of Syria’s air force intelligence, who was accused of being directly responsible for one of the bloodiest massacres of the country’s 13-year civil war.—
Danny Makki,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
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Most people associate mass shootings with high-profile tragedies like the massacres at Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2015 or Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018.—
James Densley,
The Conversation,
1 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Mercy killings.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mercy%20killings. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.
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