sanguineous

adjective

san-ˈgwi-nē-əs How to pronounce sanguineous (audio)
Definition of sanguineousnext
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
  1. murderous
  2. bloody
  3. savage
  4. sanguinary
  5. violent
  6. ferocious
  7. brutal
Adjective
  • Her laments are now laced with fury, as genocidal wars and murderous technologies join global warming in the twenty-first century’s third decade.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Bret Easton Ellis’s 2023 novel The Shards is a tragedy, an autofiction imaginarium of ’80s excess in which a serial killer and a murderous cult plague Ellis’s senior year of high school.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of murderous
Adjective
  • Daemon is knocked to the ground and then watches as Sheepstealer, ripped and torn and bloody, drags itself away.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 3 Aug. 2026
  • The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator later determined the newborn died by homicide, finding that the child died from entrapment after being placed and tied inside a plastic trash bag beneath bloody paper towels and other garbage.
    — Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of bloody
Adjective
  • Golf star Charley Hull pulled off a savage prank on her caddie, Adam Woodward, earlier in the week, and some people were upset about it.
    — Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 31 July 2026
  • The Yellow Death has disfigured the population, and soldiers in white-and-red tunics serve the savage Duke of Tviot.
    — Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 June 2026
Definition of savage
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
  • The stunts included burnouts in the middle of the intersection, which resulted in a violent collision with two of the bystanders.
    — Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Since October 2023, the number and severity of settler attacks have skyrocketed, including arson and other destruction of property, the killing of livestock, violent assaults and murder, taking place almost every day.
    — Kamel Musallet, Sun Sentinel, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of violent
Adjective
  • To the world, McRae is a strong, fearless entertainer, a triple threat who can pen songs that recall the fizzy pop of the early aughts and bring them to life as a ferocious singer and dancer.
    — Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 3 Aug. 2026
  • In 1970, Milton Friedman’s ferocious political essay in the New York Times, and the agency-theorizing that followed provided sufficient intellectual justification.
    — Steve Denning, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of ferocious
Adjective
  • His brutal murder in Culiacán, the capital of the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa, happened in just a few seconds on Tuesday in front of an audience of thousands of social media users watching his TikTok stream.
    — Rey Rodríguez, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Deliberate exposure is a brutal test — in this trial, 81% of the placebo group got sick, experiencing diarrhea and fever in some cases before receiving antibiotics.
    — Joseph Kim, NPR, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of brutal

Browse Nearby Words

sanguineness
sanguineous
sanguinity
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Cite this Entry

“Sanguineous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sanguineous. Accessed 9 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of anecdote

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

How long is a jiffy?
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All