savages 1 of 2

noun

plural of savage
1
as in brutes
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person what kind of savage would hurt a baby?

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in barbarians
an uncivilized person inhabitants of exotic lands were invariably portrayed by early travel writers as savages

Synonyms & Similar Words

savages

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of savage
as in attacks
to criticize harshly and usually publicly book reviewers mercilessly savaged his latest novel

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 savages
Noun
And potentially discover treasure that will keep the savages at home from tearing the place down. — Barry Collins, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026 Or a group of shipwrecked boys turning into savages and killing one another? — Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2026 The Indians in Westerns had war paint and whooped like savages. — Literary Hub, 28 May 2026 Smoothbrain libs and savages can KMA. — Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 18 May 2026 This notion was based on outdated presumptions of hillforts as being occupied by violent, prehistoric savages. — News Desk, Artforum, 10 Apr. 2026 Or Irish, in a time when they were seen as savages by the Englishmen? — Arushi Jacob, Variety, 13 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for savages
  1. brutes
  2. barbarians
  3. attacks
  4. villains
  5. scolds
  6. monsters
  7. abuses
  8. criminals
Noun
  • These brutes commonly exceed 50 pounds.
    — Keith Sutton, Outdoor Life, 18 June 2026
  • In Raspail’s tale, hordes of impoverished and dark-​skinned brutes from India descend onto French shores by way of rafts, the first wave of an invasion of the civilized West by the brown-​skinned developing world.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Apr. 2026
Definition of brutes
Noun
  • So that, zombie- or indeed mummy-like, the barbarians can mimic imperial subjects enough to look human.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2026
  • If OpenAI’s agents are Romans, humanity represents the barbarians.
    — Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of barbarians
Verb
  • The degenerative disease attacks the motor neurons of the brain and spinal cords.
    — CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The advertisement, which was released last week, attacks Vang over her attendance record at the meetings of local government bodies including the Sacramento Regional Transit District and Sacramento Transportation Authority.
    — Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of attacks
Noun
  • The way it’s framed, both the heroes and the villains can only come from the tech community.
    — Rumman Chowdhury, Rolling Stone, 25 Sep. 2026
  • There aren’t any villains here, just young people making young people mistakes and older people making older people mistakes.
    — Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of villains
Verb
  • Some intergenerational sparring ensues, as Kevin scolds Arthur for his more outré boomer comments, and Arthur in turn sneers at his grandson’s millennial lameness.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 19 Aug. 2026
  • The audience screams in response, and Scovel scolds them again but this time with a smile.
    — Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of scolds
Noun
  • The main three projects — The Mummy, The Loudest Voice and Unabomber — each involve monsters in various forms.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 3 Oct. 2026
  • The world has seen many hurricanes rapidly intensify in recent years, strengthening from relatively weak storms into destructive monsters in a matter of hours.
    — Chanh Kieu, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of monsters
Verb
  • Detectives will continue investigating these cases aggressively, and anyone who abuses their position with a child will be held accountable.
    — Brittany Miller, FOXNews.com, 15 Aug. 2026
  • New York City’s child welfare agency routinely abuses its emergency power to take children from their parents without a court order, creating lifelong consequences for families, a new class-action lawsuit seeking to end the practice alleged Thursday.
    — Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, 28 May 2026
Definition of abuses
Noun
  • The Financial Action Task Force, the global money-laundering watchdog, has warned that criminals exploit citizenship and residency programs to conceal their identities, launder illicit wealth and evade justice.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 3 Oct. 2026
  • In a world that escalated from criminals planning a heist to steal DVD players to flying in a rocketship to space, anything’s possible.
    — Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of criminals

Browse Nearby Words

savagery
savages
savaging
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Savages.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/savages. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of etiquette

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

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

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

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
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
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All