as in murderous
eager for or marked by the shedding of blood, extreme violence, or killing
a movie so sanguinary that I covered my eyes during at least half of it
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sanguinary
Mass shootings scarcely register anymore, unless the death toll reaches a certain sanguinary level.
—
Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2024
Michael Modafferi Lawmakers and order Yonkers: How many more innocents will be murdered, mugged and mauled by sanguinary, recidivist thugs and mentally ill individuals, none of whom belong unfettered on the streets of New York City and state, before the left-wing Democrats restore law and order?
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 27 Mar. 2024
An appeal to force was an admission of failure, and the pride of the new nation was the sense of overcoming the sanguinary reflexes of the old world.
—TIME, 31 Jan. 2024
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
See All Example Sentences for sanguinary
Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2024
Michael Modafferi Lawmakers and order Yonkers: How many more innocents will be murdered, mugged and mauled by sanguinary, recidivist thugs and mentally ill individuals, none of whom belong unfettered on the streets of New York City and state, before the left-wing Democrats restore law and order?
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 27 Mar. 2024
An appeal to force was an admission of failure, and the pride of the new nation was the sense of overcoming the sanguinary reflexes of the old world.
—TIME, 31 Jan. 2024
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
See All Example Sentences for sanguinary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sanguinary
Adjective
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In Vincent Must Die, random strangers have suddenly started attacking Vincent with murderous intent.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
31 Oct. 2025
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And its pigtailed protagonist — to many, as recognizable and beloved a horror villain as Freddie Krueger or Jason Voorhees — is little Rhoda, whose mother (Nancy Kelly) discovers over the course of the film is actually a murderous sociopath.—
Seth Abramovitch,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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This is bloody and chaotic, and reasonably interesting.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
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Directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara with a screenplay by Hiroshi Seko, the movie follows Denji as his encounter with café worker Reze leads to a clash between intimate connection and bloody chaos.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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The warm, relatable territory where the first season ends up doesn’t fully square with the savage satire promised by the pilot.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
30 Oct. 2025
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August Strindberg’s savage chamber drama gets transported to Ireland in Liv Ullmann’s sharp, surprisingly suspenseful adaptation.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Here's everything to know about the late female killer and her brutal crimes.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
30 Oct. 2025
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The grisly events in El Fasher come over two and a half years into a brutal civil war that has claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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With words infallibly falling short, Pritam mingled realism with a fragmentary style of narration that meshes together social encounters, violent episodes, vivid metaphors, disturbing dreams, memories, intimate self-reflections, and introspection on society.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
30 Oct. 2025
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Once embroiled in conflict, participants and spectators layer on more stories to make sense of their relationship to its violent cauldron.—
Elizabeth D. Samet,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sanguinary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sanguinary. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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