variants
also hari-kari
as in suicide
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Recent Examples of hara-kiri
When the soldiers, instead of rising up, jeered at him, Mishima killed himself in the classic samurai fashion: performing hara-kiri, or seppuku (as the Japanese more commonly call it), by plunging a sword into his abdomen before a uniformed disciple sliced his head off.
—
Ian Buruma, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2025
The film depicts the historical ‘Honno-ji Incident’ from 1582, when a key vassal of Oda Nobunaga rose in revolt and caused his master to commit hara-kiri in Kyoto.
—Mark Schilling, Variety, 17 Apr. 2023
Ian Buruma, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2025
The film depicts the historical ‘Honno-ji Incident’ from 1582, when a key vassal of Oda Nobunaga rose in revolt and caused his master to commit hara-kiri in Kyoto.
—Mark Schilling, Variety, 17 Apr. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hara-kiri
Noun
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Deputy District Attorney David Jarman, who is prosecuting the case, said the facts support a second-degree murder charge.—
Teri Figueroa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 Mar. 2025
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In the episode, which airs April 4, Mickey will team up with her nephew Bode Leone (Max Thieriot) to investigate a murder attempt on her father, Wes Fox (W. Earl Brown).—
Alamin Yohannes,
EW.com,
14 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Investigators initially charged Kyle Hill, 33, with DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide before upgrading the charges to first degree murder and attempted first degree murder, St. Petersburg police announced on Wednesday.—
Samira Asma-Sadeque,
People.com,
14 Mar. 2025
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At a time when homicides and shootings are dropping dramatically in Baltimore, new data shows the city still averages at least one carjacking a day.—
Rebecca Pryor,
Baltimore Sun,
14 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Manson and his followers were eventually arrested and charged in the savage slayings in December 1969.—
Lynsey Eidell,
People.com,
7 Mar. 2025
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Wedding’s placement on the Top Ten list could be tied to the slaying of the government’s top witness against him in Medellín, Colombia, in January.—
Jesse Hyde,
Rolling Stone,
6 Mar. 2025
Noun
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But on Wednesday, a grand jury indicted her on the charge of assisting self-murder/manslaughter, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.—
Frank Fernandez,
USA TODAY,
24 Feb. 2023
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The initial charge of first-degree murder has been reduced to assisting self-murder/manslaughter.—
Frank Fernandez,
USA TODAY,
24 Feb. 2023
Noun
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The Orange County Sheriff’s Office investigated and found no signs of foul play.—
Ames Alexander,
Charlotte Observer,
20 Mar. 2025
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Extensive search efforts by Dominican authorities, including aerial and underwater operations, have not yet yielded any evidence of foul play.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
Fox News,
19 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hara-kiri.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hara-kiri. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
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