ultraviolence

noun

ul·​tra·​vi·​o·​lence ˌəl-trə-ˈvī-lən(t)s 

-ˈvī-ə-

: extreme or excessive violence

As is so often the case in films of this kind, the ultraviolence is denounced as obscene and demeaning, but the film makers—and the audiences—clearly enjoy each sick and sickening sensation.

—Arthur Knight

ultraviolent

ˌəl-trə-ˈvī-lənt 

-ˈvī-ə-

adjective

… the ultraviolent Oliver Stone movie "Natural Born Killers," about a young couple who take drugs and kill people for pleasure.

—Mark Miller

Examples of ultraviolence in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Ritchie’s film, which opens in theaters Friday, takes the increasingly prolific director’s fondness for swaggering, exploitation-style ultraviolence and applies it to a real-life stealth mission that would have been thrilling enough if it had been told with a little historical accuracy. —Jake Coyle, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Apr. 2024

There is a truth to the complaint inherent in discussions about the enthusiastic ultraviolence in and around trap and drill in the past decade. —Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 1 Nov. 2024

With his second sequel (also Christmas-themed), Leone ramps up Art’s already-notorious appetite for ultraviolence, putting Sienna through her most hellish encounter yet. —Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 9 Oct. 2024

Half a century later, the scene seems no less appalling, given the way Stanley Kubrick made such ultraviolence look like fun for the demented kids who were doing it. —Peter Debruge, Variety, 31 Aug. 2024

Both of these projects promoted ultraviolence, demonic Satanism, ritualistic torture, and pedophilia. —Ali Winston, WIRED, 1 Aug. 2024

The ultraviolence hits an unsteady critical mass point somewhere around the arrival of the Wolverine clone — and all the gore can feel at odds with the elegiac tone. —Nick Romano, EW.com, 26 July 2024

That the dude just brutally murdered multiple Jedi, including a Force-using Wookiee and two other main characters in a deadly blur of ultraviolence? —EW.com, 26 June 2024

There would also be inspired rip-offs like 2017’s Atomic Blonde (from uncredited Wick co-director David Leitch) and 2021’s Nobody, in which Bob Odenkirk, of all people, commits many acts of Wick-like ultraviolence. —Vikram Murthi, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1849, in the meaning defined above