Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective sanguinary contrast with its synonyms?

The words bloody and gory are common synonyms of sanguinary. While all three words mean "affected by or involving the shedding of blood," sanguinary applies especially to something attended by, or someone inclined to, bloodshed.

the Civil War was America's most sanguinary conflict

When is bloody a more appropriate choice than sanguinary?

The synonyms bloody and sanguinary are sometimes interchangeable, but bloody is applied especially to things that are actually covered with blood or are made up of blood.

bloody hands

When is it sensible to use gory instead of sanguinary?

The words gory and sanguinary can be used in similar contexts, but gory suggests a profusion of blood and slaughter.

exceptionally gory, even for a horror movie

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 sanguinary That battle would send Bonaparte on a dizzying journey up — and down and up and down — the greasy pole of French politics and military promotions, and it’s staged by Scott with sanguinary detail: Blood will spurt, spray and splatter throughout the battles that made him and undid him. Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2023 Of course, things don’t always go to plan, and apart from serving up varying portions of Reddick, Ian McShane and main course Keanu Reeves, the films are a sanguinary festival of fisticuffs, karate chops, spinning kicks, gunfire, stabbings, chases and exploding heads. Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 20 Sep. 2023 But most of the works in this show of 28 artists come from some place closer to the end, where violent outcomes are expressed in sanguinary hues. Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 26 May 2023 Last month, Uganda finally declared the country free of hemorrhagic fevers after three months of battling these seemingly omnipresent sanguinary viruses. Rebecca Kreston, Discover Magazine, 24 Nov. 2012 See All Example Sentences for sanguinary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sanguinary
Adjective
  • Just north of Magic Mountain’s roller coasters, hidden within the vast, anonymous industrial parks of Valencia, lies the secret lab where the murderous doll M3GAN was born.
    Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2025
  • Newcastle United’s Italian midfielder is scorching forward at a murderous pace, his intent so malicious that Lavia hesitates — and that hesitation is enough.
    George Caulkin, New York Times, 12 May 2025
Adjective
  • After watching in terror as a man violently attacked a police officer in an El Cajon fast-food restaurant, Iesha Booker checked for a pulse on the bloody, unconscious officer and yelled into the radio on his belt.
    Karen Kucher, sandiegouniontribune.com, 19 July 2017
  • Photos of the man in a hospital bed with a bloody mouth were also posted.
    Jonece Starr Dunigan, AL.com, 14 July 2017
Adjective
  • The 2023 grand marshal is former Arizona Democratic congresswoman Gabby Giffords, gravely wounded in a savage mass shooting in 2011 that also killed six people.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 27 Dec. 2022
  • As savage Arctic cold was getting ready to surge south across North America, vivid imagery based on data from weather models showed us what was going to happen.
    Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 27 Dec. 2022
Adjective
  • When local Officer and single mother Dana Cypress is unexpectedly thrown into the center of a brutal murder mystery of her own, she’s left to make sense of the chaos amidst a town gripped by fear and confusion where everyone, alive or undead, is a suspect.
    Jordan Moreau, Variety, 12 May 2025
  • Bruno Silva via first-round KO This finish was absolutely brutal.
    Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 11 May 2025
Adjective
  • Combs apologized for his violent behavior soon after the video's release.
    Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 16 May 2025
  • Europeans, Australians and Americans organized violent, racially motivated riots and lawmakers began enacting anti-Chinese immigration legislation, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.
    Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Sanguinary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sanguinary. Accessed 22 May. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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