homicidal
adjective
ho·mi·cid·al
ˌhä-mə-ˈsī-dᵊl
ˌhō-
: of, relating to, or tending toward homicide
Synonyms
Examples of homicidal in a Sentence
court-appointed psychiatrists have described the accused as a sociopath with homicidal tendencies who is a danger to himself and others
Recent Examples on the Web
According to the autopsy report, the official cause of death was homicidal violence.
—Jordan Kinsey, CBS News, 12 Apr. 2024
Monday’s session left little time for the defense attorneys’ cross examination, but from the start, Dana Fite, representing Trigueros Hernandez, sought to establish the absence of homicidal intent by the defendants.
—Robert Salonga, The Mercury News, 18 Mar. 2024
Sometime during the pandemic, the streets surrounding our apartment building had turned into a homicidal four-wide drag race.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2024
Jackie is at the gym to prepare for a bodybuilding competition, but she’s drawn into a sordid plot involving Lou’s estranged family, a web of ghastly and sometimes homicidal misfits.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2024
To close the ring around the Soviet Union, Washington eventually partnered with another homicidal communist, the Chinese leader Mao Zedong.
—Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
Dreaming of stardom during long days at the cinema, Pearl’s perception of reality begins to warp and her taste for fame becomes homicidal.
—Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 11 Jan. 2024
The American public had encountered this thinking before, of course, as it was popularized in the Nineties by the homicidal maniac Theodore Kaczynski, whose manifesto inveighed against industrial society and called for its violent overthrow.
—Christopher Ketcham, Harper's Magazine, 1 Nov. 2023
Then came an alert about a motorist, possibly armed, en route to Indianapolis, reportedly with homicidal thoughts.
—Ernesto Londoño, New York Times, 22 Dec. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'homicidal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1725, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near homicidal
Cite this Entry
“Homicidal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homicidal. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.
Kids Definition
homicidal
adjective
ho·mi·cid·al
ˌhäm-ə-ˈsīd-ᵊl
ˌhō-mə-
: of, relating to, or having tendencies toward the killing of another person : murderous
Medical Definition
homicidal
adjective
ho·mi·cid·al
ˌhäm-ə-ˈsīd-ᵊl
ˌhō-mə-
: of, relating to, or tending toward homicide
Legal Definition
homicidal
adjective
ho·mi·ci·dal
ˌhä-mə-ˈsīd-ᵊl, ˌhō-
: of, relating to, or tending toward homicide
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