as in brutal
having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others
the troubled youth is being treated by a psychotherapist for his sadistic urges to hurt animals
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Recent Examples of sadistic
In the official trailer for the new season of Criminal Minds: Evolution, there’s more talk about serial killers, sadistic psychopaths, and Elias Voit — the notorious Sicarius Killer played by the enthusiastic Zach Gilford.
—
Lynette Rice, Deadline, 24 Apr. 2025
Chroniclers and foreign travelers left accounts of the sadistic tortures and mass executions that were conducted with Ivan’s participation.
—Dina Khapaeva, The Conversation, 22 Apr. 2025
He’s sent on a rendezvous with the Coyotes as punishment, and that’s where Stabler comes face-to-face with Andre, the biker gang’s sadistic leader.
—Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 17 Apr. 2025
Four women ultimately came forward and exposed Brightman’s sadistic scheme that prosecutors said lasted from around January 2022 through late 2023, shortly before his arrest by the feds.
—Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 8 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sadistic
Lynette Rice, Deadline, 24 Apr. 2025
Chroniclers and foreign travelers left accounts of the sadistic tortures and mass executions that were conducted with Ivan’s participation.
—Dina Khapaeva, The Conversation, 22 Apr. 2025
He’s sent on a rendezvous with the Coyotes as punishment, and that’s where Stabler comes face-to-face with Andre, the biker gang’s sadistic leader.
—Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 17 Apr. 2025
Four women ultimately came forward and exposed Brightman’s sadistic scheme that prosecutors said lasted from around January 2022 through late 2023, shortly before his arrest by the feds.
—Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 8 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sadistic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sadistic
Adjective
-
Lori survives the brutal events of prom night, but not without a fight.—
Jane LaCroix,
People.com,
24 May 2025
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Amid the brutal cuts across the federal government under the Trump administration, perhaps one of the most gutting is the loss of experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who respond to lead poisoning in children.—
John Timmer,
ArsTechnica,
23 May 2025
Adjective
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But then perhaps that is her unsatisfying but depressingly undeniable point: there is no challenging minds this small, behaviors this cruel, spirits this mean.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
30 May 2025
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The reason Evin is infamous is because of its terribly cruel high security detention centers that are poorly supervised by the Prison Chief.—
Jeff Kaufman,
Time,
30 May 2025
Adjective
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The original 2006 film, which was adapted from Lauren Weisberger’s book of the same name, starred Meryl Streep as the powerful Miranda Priestley, Anne Hathaway as fashion newbie Andy Sachs, Emily Blunt as vicious assistant Emily and Stanley Tucci as Miranda’s right hand man Nigel.—
Rachel McRady,
People.com,
23 May 2025
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Wolves are vicious and intelligent group hunters, but dogs and thunderstorms famously do not mix.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
Adjective
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As savage Arctic cold was getting ready to surge south across North America, vivid imagery based on data from weather models showed us what was going to happen.—
Tom Yulsman,
Discover Magazine,
27 Dec. 2022
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The 2023 grand marshal is former Arizona Democratic congresswoman Gabby Giffords, gravely wounded in a savage mass shooting in 2011 that also killed six people.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Dec. 2022
Adjective
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As with everything Banksy, siting and context are chief among the avenues of investigation into the man’s intent and into his his hilariously ruthless nocturnal execution of his art.—
Guy Martin,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2025
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The ruthless, physical Panthers will get a strong Oilers squad, with Ekholm back on the back end, Skinner emphatically taking back his net from Calvin Pickard, and both McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on top of their games.—
Daniel Nugent-Bowman,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sadistic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sadistic. Accessed 2 Jun. 2025.
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