1
as in brutal
having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others
a barbaric dictator who tortured his own people with no qualms
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in barbarian
not civilized
the barbaric forebears of modern mankind
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Recent Examples of barbaric
The dehumanization of Palestinians as barbaric, primitive, or terroristic, for example, perpetuates racist tropes about not just Arabs but also about Muslims more broadly.
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Abdallah Fayyad, Vox, 5 June 2024
For the 26-year-old Australian nurse, the barbaric beating and gang rape on the night of Feb. 2, 1986, that left her dead in a rural field with her throat slashed was the stuff of nightmares.
—Kc Baker, People.com, 14 Oct. 2024
Dungeons & Dragons taught fantasy fans to understand orcs as a fusion of racist tropes, combining a barbaric other and a vaguely native people of tribes and clans.
—Caitlin Penzeymoog, Vox, 7 Oct. 2024
Those who were killed yesterday (Wednesday) in the IDF strike were nine terrorists with blood on their hands, and some of them participated in the barbaric massacre on October 7.
—Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News, 16 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for barbaric 
Abdallah Fayyad, Vox, 5 June 2024
For the 26-year-old Australian nurse, the barbaric beating and gang rape on the night of Feb. 2, 1986, that left her dead in a rural field with her throat slashed was the stuff of nightmares.
—Kc Baker, People.com, 14 Oct. 2024
Dungeons & Dragons taught fantasy fans to understand orcs as a fusion of racist tropes, combining a barbaric other and a vaguely native people of tribes and clans.
—Caitlin Penzeymoog, Vox, 7 Oct. 2024
Those who were killed yesterday (Wednesday) in the IDF strike were nine terrorists with blood on their hands, and some of them participated in the barbaric massacre on October 7.
—Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News, 16 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for barbaric
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barbaric
Adjective
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Meanwhile, Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) uncovered Jamie's scheme and began plotting her own brutal counterstrike.Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024
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Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone (who earned an Emmy nomination for her work in the show) make a formidable duo as an author and a police officer, respectively, investigating the brutal murder of a 14-year-old girl in a small town in Canada.Jennifer M. Wood, WIRED, 5 Nov. 2024
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Yet the real struggle between red and blue bears little resemblance to the flamboyant melodrama narrated by partisans, in which each side fights to defend humanity against a barbarian horde.Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 19 Aug. 2024
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Column of Marcus Aurelius was erected in AD 180 to commemorate his victories over the barbarian tribes of the Danube.Jake Parks, Discover Magazine, 20 June 2024
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This soaring exploration of generational trauma starts with Star, a survivor of the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre, who’s forced to speak English and practice Christianity by the man who goes on to found the notoriously cruel Carlisle Indian Industrial School.Lizz Schumer, People.com, 5 Nov. 2024
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But at times, there’s a defensive, slightly cruel streak to his patter that can eclipse his better angels (of which there are many) and test the goodwill of those around him.Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2024
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Apparently, my daughter didn’t finish all of the food on her plate, and the mom felt that was incredibly rude and a sign of poor manners.Harriette Cole, The Mercury News, 5 Nov. 2024
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Those who participated in the creative exercises felt more social closeness with their coworkers, and were less likely to engage in rude behavior.Kate Vitasek, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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The 2023 grand marshal is former Arizona Democratic congresswoman Gabby Giffords, gravely wounded in a savage mass shooting in 2011 that also killed six people.Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 27 Dec. 2022
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As savage Arctic cold was getting ready to surge south across North America, vivid imagery based on data from weather models showed us what was going to happen.Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 27 Dec. 2022
Adjective
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The only wild bears in the San Bernardino Mountains or anywhere else in the state are black bears, according to the Fish and Wildlife Department.Phil Helsel, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2024
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The former stone church has stone pathways and wild gardens as shown in this listing photo.Clio Chang, Curbed, 8 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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That forces him to descend the 8,000-foot-and-higher safety zone of the Rocky Mountains, and into the lower-elevation danger zone where vicious monsters roam free.John Wenzel, The Denver Post, 14 Nov. 2024
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Scott, the old pro, knows how to give these scenes a vicious vitality that overcomes any thoughts about how the Romans supposedly got live sharks in the water.Alison Willmore, Vulture, 11 Nov. 2024
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Treating barbarous body horror as something embedded in us deeper than the mutual love of a partner, especially when it’s done without the theatrical or exploitation trappings, makes for one of the New French Extremity’s most troubling works.Rory Doherty, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2024
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How does Reed manage to revisit some of the world’s most barbarous acts without succumbing to despair?K.J. Yossman, Variety, 9 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near barbaric
Cite this Entry
“Barbaric.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barbaric. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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