mas·sa·cre
ˈma-si-kər 
1
: the act or an instance of killing a number of usually helpless or unresisting human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty
witnessed the massacre of a boatload of refugees
2
: a cruel or wanton (see wanton entry 1 sense 1a) murder
3
: a wholesale slaughter of animals
Residents engaged in a citywide cat massacre.
4
: an act of complete destruction
the author's massacre of traditional federalist presuppositions—
R. G. McCloskey
R. G. McCloskeythe Puritan massacre of statues and pictures—Robert Hughes
Robert Hughes
massacred; massacring
ˈma-si-k(ə-)riŋ
1
: to kill by massacre
2
: mangle sense 2
words were misspelled and syntax massacred—Bice Clemow
Bice ClemowSynonyms
Examples of massacre in a Sentence
Noun
The game turned out to be a complete massacre.
the infamous massacre of more than 200 Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota
Verb
Hundreds have been massacred in the uprising.
The other team really massacred us on Saturday.
He really massacred that song.
Recent Examples on the Web
Renad Mansour, Foreign Affairs, 13 Nov. 2024
Realizing their days were numbered, Jones set the massacre in motion.
—Declan Gallagher and Chris Bellamy, EW.com, 31 Oct. 2024
Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 2 Oct. 2024
Just a mile to the southeast lies the ramshackle Santa Cruz cemetery, where in 1991 at least 250 unarmed civilians were massacred by Indonesian troops.
—Charlie Campbell / Dili, Timor-Leste, TIME, 4 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for massacre 
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.
Noun
Israeli massacres of civilians, which have been condemned by the United Nations and by human rights organizations, have proved devastating for civil society and are being used by axis groups to foster their ideology of resistance.
—Renad Mansour, Foreign Affairs, 13 Nov. 2024
Realizing their days were numbered, Jones set the massacre in motion.
—Declan Gallagher and Chris Bellamy, EW.com, 31 Oct. 2024
Verb
The current conflict on the Lebanese border began last October 8th—the day after Hamas militants from Gaza massacred twelve hundred people in southern Israel and took a couple of hundred more hostage—when Hezbollah began firing rockets into the northern part of the country.
—Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 2 Oct. 2024
Just a mile to the southeast lies the ramshackle Santa Cruz cemetery, where in 1991 at least 250 unarmed civilians were massacred by Indonesian troops.
—Charlie Campbell / Dili, Timor-Leste, TIME, 4 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for massacre
Articles Related to massacre
Dictionary Entries Near massacre
Cite this Entry
“Massacre.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/massacre. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
massacre
1 of 2 verb
mas·sa·cre
ˈmas-i-kər
massacred; massacring
-k(ə-)riŋ
: to kill in a massacre : slaughter
massacrer
noun
-i-kər-ər
-i-krər
massacre
2 of 2 noun
: the violent and cruel killing of a number of persons
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share