Synonyms of sadism

sadism

noun

ˈsā-ˌdi-zəm 

as in cruelty

disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others

a troubled youth with a streak of sadism in him

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cruelty
• brutality
• savagery
• atrocity
• barbarity
• inhumanity
• heartlessness
• savageness
• cruelness
• viciousness
• murderousness
• fiendishness
• wantonness
• barbarousness
• truculence
• ruthlessness
• inhumanness
• mercilessness
• atrociousness
• meanness
• pitilessness
• ferocity
• grimness
• bloodthirstiness
• malevolence
• oppressiveness
• bloodlust
• ferociousness
• fierceness
• spitefulness
• maliciousness
• hatefulness
• malignity
• hard-heartedness
• sanguinity
• unfeelingness
• fellness
• harshness
• nastiness
• cattiness
• sanguineness
• heavy-handedness
• despitefulness
• hardhandedness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sympathy
• compassion
• humanity
• kindness
• humaneness
• tenderness
• benignity
• warmth
• tenderheartedness
• kindheartedness
• warmness
• good-heartedness
• pity
• mercy
• leniency
• clemency
• warmheartedness
• charitableness
• mercifulness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of sadism

That’s a victory made all the more triumphant by the film’s moderately budget (it’s estimated around $3.5 million) and an ambitious commitment to pulling off some all-time theatrical sadism. —Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 27 Sep. 2024

In contrast to most movies about serial killers, this one offers nary a glimpse of violence, let alone any wallowing in sadism. —Dennis Harvey, Variety, 6 Sep. 2024

And so our hero crosses paths with his future patron and personal tormentor Harrison Lee Van Buren, who would be a monstrous caricature of capitalism’s worst perversities if not for the softness that Guy Pearce so gingerly laces into his sadism. —David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 1 Sep. 2024

Of course, California State University, where websites at campuses like Northridge and San Francisco, among others, sometimes carry similar messages — starting long before the Hamas sadism of last Oct. 7 — has no such policy. —Thomas Elias, The Mercury News, 9 Aug. 2024