MURDEROUS Synonyms: 298 Similar and Opposite Words

murderous

adjective

ˈmər-d(ə-)rəs

Definition of murderous

as in oppressive

difficult to endure the murderous heat of the desert

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in difficult

requiring considerable physical or mental effort those exams were murderous

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in lethal

likely to cause or capable of causing death braved murderous machine-gun fire to capture the hill from the enemy

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in murdering

eager for or marked by the shedding of blood, extreme violence, or killing Viking warriors became legendary for the murderous fury they displayed in battle

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of murderous Joseph Stalin—the Soviet Union’s supreme ruler from 1929 to 1953 and a murderous tyrant legendary for drinking friends and enemies under the table—was a closet oenophile, the e-mail explained. — Frankie Mills, Air Mail, 27 June 2026 Pure white cloth, born in the murderous toil of slavery, formed in debilitating factory conditions, and finished through the agony of Sicilian children, was bleached in more ways than one. — Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 15 June 2026 Being on house arrest in the most recent installment, the murderous mom of two takes a break from putting on this metaphorical mask, allowing her vulnerability to show. — Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 11 June 2026 Nothing that reflects the sheer abjection of the murderous dog pounds of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries or the many individual cruelties visited upon dogs. — Literary Hub, 10 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for murderous

Recent Examples of Synonyms for murderous

Adjective

In addition to facing each other, the Norway and England players will also have to battle oppressive heat and humidity on Saturday.

— Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 11 July 2026
Rents in Rhode Island are particularly oppressive, with the average for a three-bedroom home costing nearly 30% of median income.

— Scott Cohn, CNBC, 10 July 2026

Definition of oppressive

Adjective

Sarah Buck, Chicago Driving has become harder The rapid increase in bike lanes has made driving much more difficult and tedious, with numerous delays due to many streets being reduced to one lane in busy areas.

— Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026
Republican strategists have welcomed those nominations as an opening for attack in a difficult election year.

— Susan Page, USA Today, 5 July 2026

Definition of difficult

Adjective

The theory is that individuals became infected by a strain that was particularly lethal to the young through close contact with marmots (rodents that are known reservoirs of the plague), perhaps while butchering them.

— The Week UK, TheWeek, 6 July 2026
Hubris and risk aversion make for a lethal cocktail in high-level professional sports.

— Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 6 July 2026

Definition of lethal

Adjective

Season 3 of the series returned with a bloody episode and a skyrocketing death toll, which continues to rise, as the rival Targaryen factions clashed in the shock-and-awe-inspiring Battle of the Gullet.

— Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 5 July 2026
The cannons would've sunk just weeks before the Battle of Savannah, known as one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War, with over 800 casualties in under an hour.

— Amy Galo, FOXNews.com, 5 July 2026

Definition of bloody

Adjective

White settlers and frontier pioneers built vast, fenceless cattle stations, battling harsh environments and disease, embracing a hard-living culture that exists to this day.

— Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 5 July 2026
Dish Soap Using harsh chemicals on the outside of your toilet bowl and fixtures is not recommended, according to Meagher.

— Olivia McIntosh, Martha Stewart, 4 July 2026

Definition of harsh

Adjective

When the Guadalupe River surged through Texas Hill Country last summer, Elida Sierra Lutz and her three children were swept into the deadly flooding like debris in the current.

— Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN Money, 6 July 2026
Written and directed by YouTube filmmaker Curry Barker, the film, made for $750,000, tells a twisted tale of love with deadly consequences.

— Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 5 July 2026

Definition of deadly

Adjective

And such attacks are not merely tactics of war, but the brutal intersection of the logic of war and the logic of climate vulnerability.

— Sarah Yerkes, Time, 10 July 2026
That film culminated in the brutal defeat of House Atreides by rival House Harkonnen, with Paul and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), fleeing to the desert and taking refuge among the Fremen.

— Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 9 July 2026

Definition of brutal

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murdering

murderous

murderousness

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“Murderous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/murderous. Accessed 12 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of murderous

adjective

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