BUTCHERED Synonyms: 83 Similar and Opposite Words

butchered

verb

past tense of butcher

as in slaughtered

to kill on a large scale the barbarians butchered the monks in the monasteries without mercy

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in fumbled

to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way the new piano student butchered the sonatina

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 butchered The plague victims likely hunted, skinned and butchered marmots for their meat and fur, which would have exposed members of the community to the bacteria, Macleod said. —

Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 17 June 2026 The deer must be completely butchered and de-boned before it can be brought into the state. —

Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 28 Apr. 2026 When a crew lands a whale, it's usually butchered on a nearby beach. —

ABC News, 23 Apr. 2026 Using methods including high-resolution 3D scanning, researchers found that many of the 92 fragments bear cut marks on their inner surfaces, indicating that the turtles were carefully butchered by Neanderthals — with limbs detached, internal organs removed and shells thoroughly cleaned. —

Kelly McGreal, FOXNews.com, 15 Apr. 2026 According to the Times coverage of the incident and subsequent lawsuit, the scenes shown in the classroom included autopsies, decaying cadavers and live animals being butchered, mutilated and tortured. —

Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2026 Nova — who was working a second job as a delivery driver to provide for his family — had a little more than $100 on him when he was robbed and butchered. —

Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 28 Mar. 2026 And so the buffalo were butchered and sold for their tongues and hides, and their bones were ground and used for fine china. —

Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 5 Mar. 2026 Tell the people that you were basically butchered by your trauma. —

Alison Herman, Variety, 2 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for butchered

Verb

Navajo people had their sheep–their food supply and source of income–slaughtered by the federal government.

— Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 13 June 2026
Seven years before the start of this novel, an alien species slaughtered everyone aboard a human spaceship—Earth’s first contact with extraterrestrials.

— Alexandra Oliva, The Atlantic, 12 June 2026