MURDERS Synonyms: 166 Similar and Opposite Words

murders 1 of 2

noun

plural of murder

as in nightmares

a situation or state that causes great suffering and unhappiness this weather is murder on my sinuses

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as in homicides

the intentional and unlawful taking of another person's life arrested for attempting to commit murder

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murders

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of murder

as in assassinates

to put to death deliberately those people made me so mad I felt like I wanted to murder them

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as in fumbles

to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way we listened in horror as she murdered our favorite song on stage

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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 murders

Noun

Foxtrot has been linked to several murders across Europe, and Britain and the US allege the group was behind attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets on behalf of Iran, which denies the allegation. — CNN Money, 16 Oct. 2026 New details point to a possible premeditated plot in the family murders at Great Wolf Lodge in Pennsylvania, a private investigator says. — Kelsie Cairns, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2026 Director Bong Joon Ho’s iconic procedural follows a sometimes hilariously inept investigation into a series of small town murders. — David Faris, TheWeek, 16 Oct. 2026 While all this is happening, Levon is trying to solve the strange murders plaguing his town as his reporter sister, Brianna (Devin Kessler), is doing an investigation of her own. — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2026 Rifkin then asked Pedraza about the days leading up to — and following the murders. — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 15 Oct. 2026 Bukele has managed to reduce murders to a historic low in El Salvador but faces accusations of abuses during the state of emergency that began in 2022 and has imprisoned more than 91,000 people. — ABC News, 14 Oct. 2026 The Girls was loosely inspired by the 1969 Manson family murders. — Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 9 Oct. 2026 The departmen and encouraged the public to continue submitting legitimate information through its unsolved murders website. — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 9 Oct. 2026

Verb

This included three of the women involved in the brutal Manson murders — Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten — all scheduled to be gassed. — M. Sara Rosenthal, STAT, 13 Oct. 2026 Joe almost murders Morgan (Sherry and Morgan in the same episode? — Alice Burton, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2026 By definition, a serial killer is someone who murders two or more people during separate events, with gaps of time in between. — Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 15 Sep. 2026 To get even with Kanan, Juke murders Raq, her surrogate mother. — Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 7 Aug. 2026 Moriarty has reported on the yogurt shop murders for over 30 years. — Erin Moriarty, CBS News, 26 June 2026 Red is immediately abducted, cut open in an ambulance, and injected with pain-magnifying drugs by his torturers, while Liz accidentally murders the mysterious man surveilling her next door. — Ew Staff, Entertainment Weekly, 25 June 2026 Kingpin’s enforcer Buck Cashman (Arty Froushan) shockingly murders Deputy Mayor Daniel Blake (Michael Gandolfini) in a showdown of Fisk’s two right-hand men. — Jordan Moreau, Variety, 29 Apr. 2026 In 1971, a jury in Los Angeles recommended the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers for the 1969 Tate-La Bianca murders. — ABC News, 9 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for murders

Noun

When her aunt Helena and paralyzed grandmother Regina arrive, the fragile boundaries between everyday life, ancestral superstition and Trina’s increasingly disturbing nightmares begin to collapse.

— Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026
Fortuna noted rapid surveys also found that children with at least one immigrant parent are more likely to experience nightmares and higher levels of sadness.

— Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of nightmares

Noun

In the map, charts and table below, view information on Baltimore homicides since 2007 as reported by the Baltimore Police Department.

— Baltimore Sun staff, Baltimore Sun, 12 Oct. 2026
In July 2024, the county Department of Public Health’s Office of Violence Prevention issued a report with more than a dozen recommendations for reducing domestic violence homicides by improving access to restraining orders.

— Connor Sheets, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of homicides

Verb

That assassinates Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sparking retaliatory attacks by Iran across the Middle East.

— Jill Lawrence, Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2026
Soleimani assassination | Trump orders a drone strike in Iraq that assassinates Qasem Soleimani, an influential Iranian military commander.

— Erin Mansfield, USA Today, 1 Mar. 2026

Definition of assassinates

Noun

The horrors at Requiem Haunted House, the largest indoor scare attraction in the Treasure Valley, begin as soon as you’re greeted at the door.

— Hali Smith October 17, Idaho Statesman, 17 Oct. 2026
And the potential horrors within are keeping him from opening it.

— Matt Reigle OutKick, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of horrors

Noun

The Johnson County District Court sentenced Robinson to death for the killings of two women and to life in prison in Kansas for the killing of a third.

— Alexa Newsom, Kansas City Star, 18 June 2026
Myung Jin Kim, 31, was wanted in connection with two killings, including a botched murder-for-hire plot in San Jose in 2016 and the killing of Kim’s friend in the parking lot of a CVS in Westminster two years later.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2026

Definition of killings

Verb

With career-defining performances from Jodie Foster and Sir Anthony Hopkins, this movie still absolutely slays 35 years after it was released.

— Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2026
When his friend Richard (Leo Suter) slays Beatrice’s husband as well, the two come up with a scheme to marry the sisters and take over their property.

— Jourdain Searles, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of slays

Verb

Miami fans had plenty to stress about as the UM offense misfired and Florida State responded to potential knockout blows with huge plays.

— Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 18 Oct. 2026
But when the final whistle blows, another job is often waiting for them the next morning.

— Preston Fore, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of blows

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murderousness

murders

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“Murders.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/murders. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of murders

noun

verb

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