1
as in cruelty
disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others
the police were accused of brutality for using excessive force in making arrests
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in brutishness
the manifestation of the traits or the gratification of the appetites of a lower animal
the disconcerting ease with which the people adopted the brutality of the enemy invaders
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of brutality
Offset has remained largely quiet about political matters outside of police brutality.
—
Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 5 Mar. 2025
The revival maintains the same sense of dark, broody brutality, though now both Kingpin and Fisk are ensconced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 5 Mar. 2025
And for the hostages in Israel, the dream is freedom—the warmth of their family’s embrace, the smell of home, the sound of their own name spoken with love instead of brutality.
—Dr. Maky Zanganeh, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025
It was fueled by the events of 2020 when protests erupted around the country following the killing of George Floyd and police brutality directed at Black men.
—J.m. Banks, Kansas City Star, 4 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 5 Mar. 2025
The revival maintains the same sense of dark, broody brutality, though now both Kingpin and Fisk are ensconced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 5 Mar. 2025
And for the hostages in Israel, the dream is freedom—the warmth of their family’s embrace, the smell of home, the sound of their own name spoken with love instead of brutality.
—Dr. Maky Zanganeh, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025
It was fueled by the events of 2020 when protests erupted around the country following the killing of George Floyd and police brutality directed at Black men.
—J.m. Banks, Kansas City Star, 4 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutality
Noun
-
Matthew has been charged with first-degree murder, as well as related weapons possession and animal cruelty charges.—
Laura Barcella,
People.com,
7 Mar. 2025
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The whole movie is about the ways that cruelty and injustice become codified.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
7 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Throughout Assad’s rule, the Alawite sect became increasingly linked, in the eyes of his opponents, to the atrocities committed by his regime during the Syrian civil war.—
Nadeen Ebrahim,
CNN,
10 Mar. 2025
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The new government should thus start by creating mechanisms to formally acknowledge the Assad regime’s atrocities and begin redressing them.—
PATRICK VINCK,
Foreign Affairs,
4 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Hope is something that Dior’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri can related to, having explored the dualities of hope and despair (as well as lightness and darkness, and fluidity and animalism) in her spring 2023 collection.—
Rosemary Feitelberg,
WWD,
22 Jan. 2025
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All of a sudden, that animalism has been incarnated.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
25 Mar. 2024
Noun
-
This strangeness causes all sorts of internal agitation, an uneasiness about humanity’s closeness to animality.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
16 Feb. 2025
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But also, something more intrinsic — something like her animality.—
Camille Bromley Gabra Zackman Krish Seenivasan David Mason,
New York Times,
6 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Brutality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutality. Accessed 20 Mar. 2025.
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