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
Over 10,000 people have been killed in violence since 2021, with 5,600 being killed last year alone, according to the U.N.
The gangs responsible for the violence are notable for their heavy weaponry, brutality, and erraticism.
—
Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 28 May 2025
After a bystander’s video of Floyd’s death sparked nationwide calls for an end to police impunity and brutality, the officer, Derek Chauvin, was fired.
—Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 21 May 2025
The group inflicted widespread abuse and brutality on the tiny population that remained, sparking an outpouring of relief when the army retook it.
—Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR, 16 May 2025
Trump’s allusions to police brutality – the very thing demonstrators were protesting – only seemed to rile them and underscore what was at stake.
—Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 24 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 28 May 2025
After a bystander’s video of Floyd’s death sparked nationwide calls for an end to police impunity and brutality, the officer, Derek Chauvin, was fired.
—Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 21 May 2025
The group inflicted widespread abuse and brutality on the tiny population that remained, sparking an outpouring of relief when the army retook it.
—Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR, 16 May 2025
Trump’s allusions to police brutality – the very thing demonstrators were protesting – only seemed to rile them and underscore what was at stake.
—Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 24 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutality
Noun
-
There will always be injustice, cruelty and abuses of power.—
Starr Bowenbank,
People.com,
13 June 2025
-
But by holding the threat of losing access to your grandchildren over you, your kids are showing an unnecessary amount of cruelty to people (you) who don’t deserve it.—
Eric Thomas,
The Orlando Sentinel,
13 June 2025
Noun
-
Throughout, the novel chips away at its foundational questions: Does there exist a punishment equal to the atrocity of killing one’s child?—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
9 June 2025
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The story of the atrocity is still being unearthed 140 years later.—
Stephen Miller,
Bluesky Social,
5 June 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 18 Jun. 2025.
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