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
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Recent Examples of brutality
But there’s a measure of hope that the country can emerge from the era of brutality and repression of the Assad regimes – of Hafez and Bashar – creating a more stable future.
—
Matthew Carey, Deadline, 19 Mar. 2026
Anyone who still shows sympathy for the Islamic Republic should understand — this is only a small glimpse of its brutality.
—Benjamin Weinthal, FOXNews.com, 19 Mar. 2026
And the brand is brutality, the brand is war crimes.
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 18 Mar. 2026
The lawsuit marks at least the third time Remick has been named in police brutality lawsuits in recent years.
—Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 17 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Matthew Carey, Deadline, 19 Mar. 2026
Anyone who still shows sympathy for the Islamic Republic should understand — this is only a small glimpse of its brutality.
—Benjamin Weinthal, FOXNews.com, 19 Mar. 2026
And the brand is brutality, the brand is war crimes.
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 18 Mar. 2026
The lawsuit marks at least the third time Remick has been named in police brutality lawsuits in recent years.
—Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 17 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for brutality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutality
Noun
-
The post-liberals stand for cruelty and inanity, but Brooks can’t admit to standing for much of anything at all.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
-
In an era of near continuous cruelty by the administration, the imprisonment of the boy and his father attracted massive media and political attention and eventually saw both released on February 1.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
30 Mar. 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
-
Supporters of both sides have spread bogus images of atrocities or decisive victories that never happened.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
29 Mar. 2026
-
The war has been marked by atrocities including mass killings, gang rape and other crimes, which are being investigated by the International Criminal Court as potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.—
Samy Magdy,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Mar. 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 2 Apr. 2026.
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