atrocity

noun

atroc·​i·​ty ə-ˈträ-sə-tē 

plural atrocities

1

: a shockingly bad or atrocious act, object, or situation

the atrocities of war

2

: the quality or state of being atrocious

… the paralysing atrocity of the thought which occupied her.

—Joseph Conrad

Synonyms

• atrociousness
• awfulness
• dreadfulness
• frightfulness
• ghastliness
• grisliness
• gruesomeness
• hideousness
• horridness
• horror
• monstrosity
• repulsiveness

Examples of atrocity in a Sentence

Atrocities were committed by forces on both sides of the conflict.

Who could be capable of such atrocity?

Recent Examples on the Web

How could an empathetic person commit such atrocities? —Ross Overline, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025

Kirchner had, a year earlier, backed sanctions for clergymen who publicly opposed the government’s human rights policies, including his decision to annul laws pardoning dictatorship-era atrocities. —Federico Perelmuter, The Dial, 13 Mar. 2025

The remark seemed to downplay the atrocities of the Holocaust. —Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 7 Mar. 2025

There's a lack of consciousness over the atrocity that is happening here. —Belinda Luscombe, TIME, 4 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

see atrocious

First Known Use

1534, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for atrocity

• ferocity
• monstrosity
• pomposity
• porosity
• precocity
• schistosity
• velocity
• verbosity
• viscosity
• animosity
• curiosity
• generosity

Kids Definition

atrocity

noun

atroc·​i·​ty ə-ˈträs-ət-ē 

plural atrocities

1

: the quality or state of being atrocious

2

: something that is atrocious