MUTILATE Synonyms: 79 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How does the verb 'mutilate' contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of mutilate are batter , cripple , maim , and mangle . While all these words mean "to injure so severely as to cause lasting damage," mutilate implies the cutting off or removal of an essential part of a person or thing thereby impairing its completeness, beauty, or function. // a tree mutilated by inept pruning

Q: Where would 'batter' be a reasonable alternative to 'mutilate'?

Although the words batter and mutilate have much in common, batter implies a series of blows that bruise deeply, deform, or mutilate. // an old ship battered by fierce storms

Q: When is 'cripple' a more appropriate choice than 'mutilate'?

The words cripple and mutilate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, cripple implies the loss or serious impairment of an arm or leg. // crippled for life in an accident

Q: When can 'maim' be used instead of 'mutilate'?

The meanings of maim and mutilate largely overlap; however, maim implies the loss or injury of a bodily member through violence. // maimed by a shark

Q: When could 'mangle' be used to replace 'mutilate'?

While in some cases nearly identical to mutilate , mangle implies a tearing or crushing that leaves deep wounds. // a soldier's leg mangled by shrapnel

mutilate

verb

ˈmyü-tə-ˌlāt

Definition of mutilate

as in to cripple

to cause severe or permanent injury to was lucky not to be mutilated in the car crash

Synonyms & Similar Words

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How does the verb mutilate contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of mutilate are batter, cripple, maim, and mangle. While all these words mean "to injure so severely as to cause lasting damage," mutilate implies the cutting off or removal of an essential part of a person or thing thereby impairing its completeness, beauty, or function.

a tree mutilated by inept pruning

Where would batter be a reasonable alternative to mutilate?

Although the words batter and mutilate have much in common, batter implies a series of blows that bruise deeply, deform, or mutilate.

an old ship battered by fierce storms

When is cripple a more appropriate choice than mutilate?

The words cripple and mutilate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, cripple implies the loss or serious impairment of an arm or leg.

crippled for life in an accident

When can maim be used instead of mutilate?

The meanings of maim and mutilate largely overlap; however, maim implies the loss or injury of a bodily member through violence.

maimed by a shark

When could mangle be used to replace mutilate?

While in some cases nearly identical to mutilate, mangle implies a tearing or crushing that leaves deep wounds.

a soldier's leg mangled by shrapnel

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 mutilate The 21-year-old pleaded not guilty last month to charges including first-degree murder with special circumstances, lewd and lascivious acts with an individual under 14 and mutilating a body. — Austin Turner, CBS News, 7 Sep. 2026 Gein murdered at least two women, as well as illegally exhumed and mutilated multiple corpses, in the 1940s and 1950s. — Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026 Clayface stars Tom Rhys Harries (White Lines, Suspicion) as Matt Hagen, a promising actor in Gotham City who’s left mutilated by a mob boss for sleeping with the gangster’s girlfriend. — Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 21 July 2026 Many thousands of others have been mutilated or permanently disabled. — Tereza Pultarova, IEEE Spectrum, 10 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for mutilate

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mutilate

Verb

Block that passage, the thinking went, and China’s economy would be crippled.

— Andy Browne, semafor.com, 6 Oct. 2026
In the days after the ceasefire broke down, the Houthis announced a blockade on Saudi shipping, and launched attacks crippling Saudi Arabia’s oil export infrastructure.

— Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of cripple

Verb

Medical advances and popes’ longer lifespans, however, have highlighted this gap in church law and prompted calls for the Vatican to prepare for a pope becoming too ill or incapacitated to govern.

— ABC News, ABC News, 12 Oct. 2026
Levin said that nothing could justify Lewie’s firing several shots at McConnell after he was incapacitated on the ground.

— Robert A. Cronkleton, Kansas City Star, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of incapacitate

Verb

Monday's attack came a day after a Russian drone struck the village of Pisochyn in the Kharkiv district, killing three people and injuring nine others, including children, according to the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 13 Oct. 2026
The script was about a last draft-pick NFL player who gets injured on his very first play and returns home to Alaska to become a fisherman.

— Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of injure

Verb

Doctors in Aleppo later reported a pattern of regime snipers shooting to maim civilians, rather than to kill them—partly to maximize suffering, partly to invite rescue attempts.

— Ben Taub, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
Through its stance, the NHL bears a share of responsibility for the people killed and maimed in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

— Dominik Hasek, Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of maim

Verb

The governor of the Kaluga region, Vladislav Shapsha, said Friday that nine people had been wounded by drone attacks on the region.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 10 Oct. 2026
Suffice it to say the mystery bullets that landed in Rate Field’s bleachers in 2023 and wounded two women definitely aren’t relevant to this feel-good story but are worth mentioning to remind us how much the Sox narrative has changed.

— Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of wound

Verb

The next day, Ukrainian drones hit the company's major data center in the Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow, disabling part of the facility, Yandex said.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 12 Oct. 2026
The next day, Ukrainian drones hit the company’s major data center in the Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow, disabling part of the facilty, Yandex said.

— Susie Blann, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of disable

Verb

In what ways the life of a creative artist, and the deaths that inevitably scar it, can leak into the ensuing work—through the cracks of a poem, or a movie, or a song—is, let’s face it, a conundrum that has been worried into exhaustion.

— Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
The 52-year-old wife of Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to the Norwegian throne, was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, a chronic disease that causes scarring in the lungs and leads to a reduced oxygen uptake.

— CNN Money, CNN Money, 17 June 2026

Definition of scar

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mutes

mutilate

mutilated

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“Mutilate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mutilate. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of mutilate

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