as in brutality
the desire to kill or to see people killed
warriors inflamed by bloodlust
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Recent Examples of bloodlust
The film’s most unsettling scenes connect Hans' murder spree with the bloodlust of the German public, foreshadowing the Nazis’ rise to power just a few years later.
—
Katie Rife, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
Related Stories The film follows Alok Goyal, a journalist who transforms into a vampiric creature called Betal after encountering a mysterious woman, and must save humanity from the bloodlust of an ancient evil.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 29 Oct. 2025
There is very obviously no excuse for the kinds of posts and commentary Tyler was known for early in his career, but the internet is fueled by bloodlust, not justice.
—Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2025
The media entertains these questions, in an effort to intellectualize the ideologies underpinning the cult’s bloodlust.
—Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 20 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bloodlust
Katie Rife, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
Related Stories The film follows Alok Goyal, a journalist who transforms into a vampiric creature called Betal after encountering a mysterious woman, and must save humanity from the bloodlust of an ancient evil.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 29 Oct. 2025
There is very obviously no excuse for the kinds of posts and commentary Tyler was known for early in his career, but the internet is fueled by bloodlust, not justice.
—Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2025
The media entertains these questions, in an effort to intellectualize the ideologies underpinning the cult’s bloodlust.
—Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 20 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bloodlust
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bloodlust
Noun
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Good Friday is a day to recognize the brutality of the Roman practice of crucifying criminals and to reflect with sincerity on the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for the world.—
Nicole Russell,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
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All are committed to the principles of the 1979 revolution and will rule with greater brutality given their lack of legitimacy.—
Abigail Williams,
NBC news,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The guy was a sleaze, but there’s a pretty big gap between sleaziness and murderousness.—
Sophie Brookover,
Vulture,
12 Dec. 2025
Noun
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The findings can’t be extrapolated to the real world — the scenarios were extreme, with the regimes often facing first strikes or annihilation — but revealed AIs’ skill at strategic reasoning, as well as a certain bloodthirstiness.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Would there be perpetual meanness and the absence of kindness toward each other as human beings?—
Kevin Powell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
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The result is a movie where the jokes are just mean, and the meanness isn’t funny, leading to a cynical denouement that’s been done many times before.—
Katie Rife,
IndieWire,
16 Mar. 2026
Noun
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After the war, in sober reflection, the United States helped lead a global effort to try to tame the savagery of conflict and, in particular, to shield civilians.—
Nicholas D. Kristof,
Mercury News,
18 Mar. 2026
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Its deep psychological and philosophical meditations on civilization and savagery, religion and spirituality, man’s relationship with himself and others, and his connection with the land are dense at times but always rewarding.—
The Know,
Denver Post,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The post-liberals stand for cruelty and inanity, but Brooks can’t admit to standing for much of anything at all.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
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In an era of near continuous cruelty by the administration, the imprisonment of the boy and his father attracted massive media and political attention and eventually saw both released on February 1.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Over Your Dead Body is not for the faint of heart, but give or take a rape threat that crosses the line into smug sadism without quite seeming to realize it, the violence lands as more comically cartoonish than horrific.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Mar. 2026
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The series begins before Gein has ever killed, in 1945, as dawning awareness of death camps in Europe fills the air with sadism and conspiracy thinking.—
Daniel D'Addario,
Variety,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Even when there is little to celebrate in a world marked by barbarity, these events invite us to be together and, briefly, to look, feel, admire, and even disagree within a temporary gathering of images and spaces.—
Raphael Fonseca,
Artforum,
2 Apr. 2026
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Thousands of children have been terrorized, detained, and many have been deported because of ICE’s unchecked barbarity.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
26 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bloodlust.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bloodlust. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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