1
as in cruelty
disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others
the police were accused of brutality for using excessive force in making arrests
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in brutishness
the manifestation of the traits or the gratification of the appetites of a lower animal
the disconcerting ease with which the people adopted the brutality of the enemy invaders
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of brutality
There's a brutality behind those walls.
—
Jim Axelrod, CBS News, 31 May 2026
Humankind really leveled-up in the brutality department during WWI, a conflict pitched as a war to end all wars.
—Jordan Hoffman, Entertainment Weekly, 29 May 2026
Also in attendance will be attorney Antonio Romanucci, who has represented high-profile clients alleging police brutality, including against Chicago.
—Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 28 May 2026
What Is Black Lives Matter traces the history of the international movement, from its founding in the wake of Trayvon Martin’s 2012 death to its role in current day fights against police brutality.
—Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Jim Axelrod, CBS News, 31 May 2026
Humankind really leveled-up in the brutality department during WWI, a conflict pitched as a war to end all wars.
—Jordan Hoffman, Entertainment Weekly, 29 May 2026
Also in attendance will be attorney Antonio Romanucci, who has represented high-profile clients alleging police brutality, including against Chicago.
—Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 28 May 2026
What Is Black Lives Matter traces the history of the international movement, from its founding in the wake of Trayvon Martin’s 2012 death to its role in current day fights against police brutality.
—Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutality
Noun
-
To make the musical masterpiece of his dreams, Lestat will have to break on through his shell of witty cruelty and hope an authentic soul remains intact beneath it.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
2 June 2026
-
She was arrested at a hotel near the barn and booked at the Clark County Juvenile Hall on 12 counts of animal cruelty, including intentionally aiming or torturing a horse, as well as three counts of malicious destruction of property.—
Emily Mae Czachor,
CBS News,
1 June 2026
Noun
-
Generations of agents, therefore, have had to walk a line between bookishness and brutishness.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
-
But the brutishness has merely relocated, to places far more dangerous.—
Ian Buruma,
New Yorker,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The budget has $4 million to compensate descendants of the victims of one of the worst racial atrocities in Florida history, a case known as the Groveland Four that dates to 1949.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
28 May 2026
-
For a media ecosystem that seldom reports on the atrocities of the counterinsurgency, this episode has drawn weeks of political scrutiny.—
Patrick Peralta,
The Conversation,
28 May 2026
Noun
-
Hope is something that Dior’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri can related to, having explored the dualities of hope and despair (as well as lightness and darkness, and fluidity and animalism) in her spring 2023 collection.—
Rosemary Feitelberg,
WWD,
22 Jan. 2025
-
All of a sudden, that animalism has been incarnated.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
25 Mar. 2024
Noun
-
In other words, humans can act against the animal component of their nature and manifest their humanity by rejecting their animality.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Nov. 2025
-
This strangeness causes all sorts of internal agitation, an uneasiness about humanity’s closeness to animality.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
16 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Brutality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutality. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
