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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of barbaric
The two-and-a-half-hour film follows two Black teenagers who become wards of a barbaric juvenile reformatory in Jim Crow-era Florida.
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Anna Tingley, Variety, 28 Sep. 2024
The baseless claims have been described as racist because of the implication that Haitian immigrants, most of whom are Black, have barbaric practices or are incapable of living peacefully among white neighbors.
—David Ingram, NBC News, 10 Sep. 2024
Where The Convert does excel is in its treatment of the Maori characters, even the most barbaric of whom are afforded dimensions mostly lacking in their British counterparts.
—Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 July 2024
The dehumanization of Palestinians as barbaric, primitive, or terroristic, for example, perpetuates racist tropes about not just Arabs but also about Muslims more broadly.
—Abdallah Fayyad, Vox, 5 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for barbaric 
Anna Tingley, Variety, 28 Sep. 2024
The baseless claims have been described as racist because of the implication that Haitian immigrants, most of whom are Black, have barbaric practices or are incapable of living peacefully among white neighbors.
—David Ingram, NBC News, 10 Sep. 2024
Where The Convert does excel is in its treatment of the Maori characters, even the most barbaric of whom are afforded dimensions mostly lacking in their British counterparts.
—Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 July 2024
The dehumanization of Palestinians as barbaric, primitive, or terroristic, for example, perpetuates racist tropes about not just Arabs but also about Muslims more broadly.
—Abdallah Fayyad, Vox, 5 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for barbaric
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barbaric
Adjective
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After decades of conflict with Beijing over discrimination and suppression of their cultural identity, the Chinese government launched a brutal crackdown on the Uyghurs that some Western governments deem a genocide.Dake Kang and Huizhong Wu, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2025
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The elites got out of positions quickly, while retail investors were left twiddling their thumbs and absorbing brutal losses.Trent Hoerr, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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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.Matthew Karp, Harper's Magazine, 2 Oct. 2024
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Steve muses, as the clip cuts to barbarian humanoid pigs attacking a city.Greg Evans, Deadline, 19 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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And having more thoughtful conversations doesn’t preclude the need sometimes to confront those who are needlessly cruel or organizations that benefit from such exploitation.Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 18 Jan. 2025
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In recent months, the Justice Department and the state filed thousands of pages of new records in the lawsuit, including reports and sworn statements from pediatricians, scholars and others who describe Florida’s policies as archaic and cruel.Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald, 17 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Less than one day into 2025, the superstar has already punched in with one of her characteristic comebacks, shutting down a troll who demanded new music and called her a rude name on Instagram Wednesday (Jan. 1).Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 2 Jan. 2025
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Your relative needs to stop running roughshod over you or risk being thought rude.R. Eric Thomas, The Mercury News, 27 Dec. 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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Created by claymation animator Nick Park, Wallace & Gromit is a series of shorts and feature films which sees the naive inventor and his loyal dog embark on wild and whimsical adventures, ranging from science fiction to murder mystery, usually with a touch of horror.Dani Di Placido, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025
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The oldest wild wolf ever recorded was 13.75 years old and lived in Idaho.Brooke Baitinger, Idaho Statesman, 8 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Several fast-growing wildfires fueled by a vicious Southern California wind storm are devastating communities across the Los Angeles region, with homes being burned to the ground and tens of thousands of people evacuating to safety.Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY, 10 Jan. 2025
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That’s when Evans, in a full sprint, blindsided Lattimore with a vicious hit in the back and knocked him to the ground.Rick Stroud, Orlando Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Experts told PolitiFact such narratives painting Haiti as a barbarous country are not new and are racist attempts to dehumanize Haitians.Jeff Cercone, Austin American-Statesman, 14 Sep. 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
Thesaurus Entries Near barbaric
Cite this Entry
“Barbaric.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barbaric. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
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