MUTILATING Synonyms: 80 Similar and Opposite Words

mutilating

verb

present participle of mutilate

as in crippling

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

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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 mutilating Guess which mowing league isn't mutilating hedgehogs? — Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 12 June 2026 Tony Lee Hughes, 38, of the 600 block of Camelot Manor, is charged with Level 6 felonies of killing a domestic animal and mutilating a vertebrate animal. — Jim Woods, Chicago Tribune, 8 June 2026 Apparently, their definition of resistance is to gang rape as many women and men of all ages as possible before torturing, mutilating and murdering them. — Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 14 May 2026 Nearly a year after her death, Burke was arrested and charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances, lewd and lascivious acts with an individual under 14 and mutilating a body. — Austin Turner, CBS News, 29 Apr. 2026 D4vd pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a body in connection with Rivas Hernandez’s death. — Jessica Schaldebeck, New York Daily News, 21 Apr. 2026 Burke is formally charged with murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a body. — ABC News, 20 Apr. 2026 The strikes have also ripped through the historic palaces my father proudly showed me as a child, mutilating Iran’s ancient cultural heritage. — Alex Shams, Time, 14 Mar. 2026 Nationwide, the first successful prosecution happened in 2016 when a Houston man was sentenced to five years for creating videos that featured a woman mutilating and killing puppies, chickens and kittens and distributing them on the internet. — Jay Weaver, The Orlando Sentinel, 3 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mutilating

Verb

Florida didn’t have the cap space to work out the shorter term deal without crippling its ability to make other moves this offseason to enhance the roster.

— Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 3 July 2026
Eddie Marsan also delivers a sympathetic turn as the sad sack dad worn down by the effects of capitalism and sometimes crippling OCD.

— Jon O'Brien, Vulture, 26 June 2026

Definition of crippling

Verb

The driver hits Leatherface in the head with a wrench, incapacitating him long enough for the driver to run away and Sally to jump into the cab of a passing pickup truck.

— Jordana Rosenfeld, Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 July 2026
Tabitha grabs one of the weird, spooky totem things and drives it through the chest of the scarecrow monster attacking Donna, killing it – or at least incapacitating it – and the scarecrows retreat.

— Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 17 May 2026

Definition of incapacitating

Verb

In Brooklyn, New York’s Coney Island neighborhood, a man in a black ski mask opened fire on a family barbecue late Saturday night, wounding at least eight people, including four children.

— Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 5 July 2026
Nandito Badea, 21, and George Stana, 25, were found guilty by a jury last month of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

— ABC News, ABC News, 3 July 2026

Definition of wounding

Verb

On Sunday, Russia bombarded Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv with dozens of missiles and hundreds of strike drones, killing at least 11 and injuring scores more, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and media reports.

— Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 7 July 2026
The overnight attack comes just days after Russia launched a deadly assault on Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday morning, killing at least 31 people and injuring more than 80.

— Tiago Ventura, Time, 6 July 2026

Definition of injuring

Verb

She was later transported to the Clark County Juvenile Hall and charged with 12 counts of willful or malicious killing, maiming or torturing an animal and three counts of felony malicious destruction of private property valued at more than $5,000, police said.

— Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 1 June 2026
She was booked on 12 counts of willful or malicious killing, maiming or torturing of an animal, and three counts of felony malicious destruction of private property over $5,000.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2026

Definition of maiming

Verb

But things are going to be missed, and Bungie now has to take drastic steps of disabling some gear, or aspects of gear, permanently, rather than being able to have the time and testing to fix or rebalance them.

— Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
That said, Amazon also has a history of disabling apps that let users circumnavigate its home screen that Fire devices, including Fire Sticks and Fire TVs, have increasingly used for ads.

— Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 30 June 2026

Definition of disabling

Verb

In that case, authorities believe the mother was responsible for slaying the family and then killing herself.

— Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2026
Critics didn’t shy away from directly accusing Starmer’s government of essentially killing pensioners.

— Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 11 July 2026

Definition of killing

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

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Synonyms of mutilating

verb

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