as in slaughters
the killing of a large number of people
the infamous massacre of more than 200 Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota
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as in murders
to kill on a large scale
the country's rival ethnic groups began massacring one another
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Recent Examples of massacres
Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2025
The lack of fighting in urban centers prevented Hamas from taking the initiative, often leaving it a passive bystander to the massacres of Palestinians.
—Leila Seurat, Foreign Affairs, 26 Aug. 2025
In 1943, his UPA carried out a bloody campaign of massacres and terrorism against Polish civilians in the regions of Volhynia and Galicia, with a level of brutality that shocked even the Nazis.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 25 Aug. 2025
Neolithic Europe was no stranger to collective violence of many forms, such as the odd execution and massacres of small communities, as well as armed conflicts.
—Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 21 Aug. 2025
These same groups later carried out many of the grisly sectarian massacres of Alawite civilians along Syria’s coastal Latakia province in March, which killed at least 1,479, mostly civilians, following attacks by remnants of the former Assad regime.
—Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 25 Aug. 2025
Noun
The platform was then embroiled in the Cambridge Analytica scandal and accused of allowing misinformation that skewed elections in the US and other western countries, and led to massacres in places like Myanmar.
—Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2025
The lack of fighting in urban centers prevented Hamas from taking the initiative, often leaving it a passive bystander to the massacres of Palestinians.
—Leila Seurat, Foreign Affairs, 26 Aug. 2025
In 1943, his UPA carried out a bloody campaign of massacres and terrorism against Polish civilians in the regions of Volhynia and Galicia, with a level of brutality that shocked even the Nazis.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 25 Aug. 2025
Neolithic Europe was no stranger to collective violence of many forms, such as the odd execution and massacres of small communities, as well as armed conflicts.
—Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 21 Aug. 2025
These same groups later carried out many of the grisly sectarian massacres of Alawite civilians along Syria’s coastal Latakia province in March, which killed at least 1,479, mostly civilians, following attacks by remnants of the former Assad regime.
—Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
Verb
The Polish government considers the Volhynia and Galicia massacres a genocide, and holds Bandera equal in infamy to Nazi war criminals of the same era.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 25 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for massacres
Noun
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Michelle Kowalski, an analyst who has since departed the agency, was instructed to take one of the DOGE people, Cole Killian, through earnings data and historical records to analyze the cases of extremely old people whose deaths had not been recorded in Social Security data.—
Eli Hager,
ProPublica,
8 Sep. 2025
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Among those fentanyl deaths were 20 young children — ages 4 and under — and seven of those babies and toddlers were from Jackson County.—
Laura Bauer,
Kansas City Star,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Terrifying beasts, murders most foul, posh French zombies and a sequel to one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
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The show is not just the story of the fallout after 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) murders his classmate Katie (Emilia Holliday).—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
15 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Massacres.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/massacres. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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