SANGUINEOUS Synonyms: 92 Similar and Opposite Words

sanguineous

adjective

san-ˈgwi-nē-əs

Definition of sanguineous

as in murderous

eager for or marked by the shedding of blood, extreme violence, or killing in the sanguineous culture of ancient Sparta, military glory was prized above all else

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 sanguineous The viral TikTok dance sensation inspired by Wednesday star Jenny Ortega’s quirky moves that is set to the sanguineous 2011 Lady Gaga song has blown up so big that even Mother Monster couldn’t resist throwing her black veil into the ring. — Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 9 Dec. 2022

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sanguineous

Adjective

Like the switch suggests, The Vampire Lestat takes its inspiration from Rice’s 1985 novel of the same name, giving audiences their first taste of a show told entirely from the perspective of the dramatic, flashy, and murderous vampire Lestat.

— CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 7 July 2026
His long white oval scleras and perfect-circle black pupils, sometimes open and sometimes closed, are always inexplicably expressive—managing to seem happy, sad, scared, sleepy, shifty, angry, eager, alarmed, mischievous, or murderous.

— Casey Cep, New Yorker, 7 July 2026

Definition of murderous

Adjective

Season 3 of the series returned with a bloody episode and a skyrocketing death toll, which continues to rise, as the rival Targaryen factions clashed in the shock-and-awe-inspiring Battle of the Gullet.

— Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 5 July 2026
The cannons would've sunk just weeks before the Battle of Savannah, known as one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War, with over 800 casualties in under an hour.

— Amy Galo, FOXNews.com, 5 July 2026

Definition of bloody

Adjective

Or some other colorful character in some other sanguinary chamber with some other lethal weapon?

— John Beifuss, Memphis Commercial Appeal, 16 Mar. 2026
In a series of sanguinary close-ups, Elvira takes a cleaver to her digits, first slicing them and then fully dismembering them.

— Andrew McGowan, Variety, 23 Dec. 2025

Definition of sanguinary

Adjective

When a violent robbery occurred at a Waterford bank in January 2025, local police faced the difficult task of identifying and locating the suspects.

— State Rep. Greg Howard, Hartford Courant, 10 July 2026
The protest turned violent, with some hurling Molotov cocktails into the bank.

— ABC News, ABC News, 10 July 2026

Definition of violent

Adjective

Known for his command of ferocious demon-quelling deities, Zhenwu remains a popular deity in Daoist exorcist rituals in places such as Taiwan.

— Michael Naparstek, The Conversation, 6 July 2026
That’s because a parasite called Cyclospora, which can contaminate raw produce and causes ferocious and long-lasting bouts of diarrheal illness, is making people sick across several states.

— Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 3 July 2026

Definition of ferocious

Adjective

And such attacks are not merely tactics of war, but the brutal intersection of the logic of war and the logic of climate vulnerability.

— Sarah Yerkes, Time, 10 July 2026
That film culminated in the brutal defeat of House Atreides by rival House Harkonnen, with Paul and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), fleeing to the desert and taking refuge among the Fremen.

— Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 9 July 2026

Definition of brutal

Browse Nearby Words

sanguineness

sanguineous

sanguinity

See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

Style

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

Copy Citation

Synonyms of sanguineous

adjective

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

fulcrum

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Popular in Wordplay

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10

Popular

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes