as in patricide
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Recent Examples of parricide
This is what's known as a parricide, where somebody kills their parents.
—
Lori A Bashian , Larry Fink, FOXNews.com, 5 Jan. 2026
The double killing of one's parents, known as parricide, is a rare event, according to Dr. Kathleen Heide, Ph.D., professor of criminology at the University of South Florida and author of Why Kids Kill Parents: Child Abuse and Adolescent Homicide.
—Gillian Telling, PEOPLE, 23 Dec. 2025
Pancakes and parricide, anyone?
—Joanna O'Leary, Chron, 24 Jan. 2021
The Willoughbys Rated PG for sugarcoated parricide.
—Natalia Winkelman, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2020
Everything seems to be pointing toward parricide, but the future is no simpler than the past.
—Adam Shatz, The New York Review of Books, 2 Jan. 2020
Macron’s ascent to the presidency began, like a certain Greek tragedy, with parricide.
—Arthur Goldhammer, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2018
But University of Florida criminologist Kathleen Heide, who specializes in parricide or children who kill their parents, has said that the majority of kids are driven to kill a parent by severe trauma at the hands of that parent.
—Mary Emily O'Hara, NBC News, 22 May 2017
To write in Baldwin’s wake means to displace the father-teacher in a Whitmanesque act of parricide—not to dutifully shoulder the same historical burdens, but to comprehend one’s own historical moment more clearly.
—Ismail Muhammad, Slate Magazine, 15 Feb. 2017
Lori A Bashian , Larry Fink, FOXNews.com, 5 Jan. 2026
The double killing of one's parents, known as parricide, is a rare event, according to Dr. Kathleen Heide, Ph.D., professor of criminology at the University of South Florida and author of Why Kids Kill Parents: Child Abuse and Adolescent Homicide.
—Gillian Telling, PEOPLE, 23 Dec. 2025
Pancakes and parricide, anyone?
—Joanna O'Leary, Chron, 24 Jan. 2021
The Willoughbys Rated PG for sugarcoated parricide.
—Natalia Winkelman, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2020
Everything seems to be pointing toward parricide, but the future is no simpler than the past.
—Adam Shatz, The New York Review of Books, 2 Jan. 2020
Macron’s ascent to the presidency began, like a certain Greek tragedy, with parricide.
—Arthur Goldhammer, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2018
But University of Florida criminologist Kathleen Heide, who specializes in parricide or children who kill their parents, has said that the majority of kids are driven to kill a parent by severe trauma at the hands of that parent.
—Mary Emily O'Hara, NBC News, 22 May 2017
To write in Baldwin’s wake means to displace the father-teacher in a Whitmanesque act of parricide—not to dutifully shoulder the same historical burdens, but to comprehend one’s own historical moment more clearly.
—Ismail Muhammad, Slate Magazine, 15 Feb. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for parricide
Noun
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Walt had long described himself as a benevolent father to his workers, and the strike seemed an act of personal betrayal and disloyalty verging on patricide.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Apr. 2026
-
The second season’s focus on the Menendez brothers’ patricide is loud, confrontational, and approaches the case from multiple perspectives at once, which can either come across as daring or incoherent.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
24 May 2025
Noun
-
At the center of the installation is the myth of Orestes, which hinges on the justification of matricide.—
Eana Kim,
ARTnews.com,
27 Apr. 2026
-
According to a new study published in Current Biology on Monday, Nov. 17, several species of parasitic ants have evolved a way to manipulate worker ants into killing their own queen — a form of matricide that biologists say has never been observed in this exact form.—
Moná Thomas,
PEOPLE,
27 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The radical shifts in France — regicide, the Committee of Public Safety’s terror, and expansionist campaigns — dissolved the moral and practical basis for the alliance.—
Daniel Ross Goodman,
The Washington Examiner,
9 Jan. 2026
-
With examples drawn from Scripture and across the length of history, Paine commits rhetorical regicide.—
Matthew Redmond
August 13,
Literary Hub,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
But Iran did little to stop the fratricide.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
2 Sep. 2025
-
But what is absolutely clear to me right now is that this Israeli government is committing suicide, homicide and fratricide.—
Thomas L. Friedman,
Mercury News,
28 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Each year in the United States there are nearly 500 arrests for filicide – which is the legal term for when parents kill their children – according to an analysis of FBI data by Forensic Science International.—
Chelsea Bailey,
CNN Money,
22 Apr. 2026
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That number doesn't include the many filicides that end with parents taking their own lives.—
Lauren Villagran,
USA Today,
21 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Judy was found guilty of murder in 1983, and served thirty-eight years, mostly in Bedford Hills Correctional Facility.—
James Wood,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
Though Robert and Alexander were both initially charged with murder, prosecutors agreed to a plea deal.—
Jessica Sager,
PEOPLE,
3 May 2026
Noun
-
Jackson's death was later declared a homicide at the hands of Murray, who administered the fatal dose of Propofol.—
Alex Gurley,
PEOPLE,
28 Apr. 2026
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More than two decades after a North Carolina teen died in what was considered a hit-and-run, investigators now say a police officer has been identified as a person of interest in the homicide case.—
Stepheny Price,
FOXNews.com,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Parricide.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/parricide. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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