BRUTALITY Synonyms: 87 Similar and Opposite Words

brutality

noun

brü-ˈta-lə-tē

Definition of brutality

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

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of brutality As the violence intensifies, the two men search for ways to escape the brutality surrounding them, if only briefly. — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 25 Aug. 2026 In 2020, she was jailed for taking part in an anti-police brutality protest near the Kremlin with Pussy Riot, clad in their synonymous pink balaclavas. — Hikmat Mohammed, ARTnews.com, 25 Aug. 2026 The regime has demonstrated an extreme brutality toward the population, having massacred thousands of unarmed protestors this past January. — Benjamin Weinthal, FOXNews.com, 25 Aug. 2026 The lawsuit also alleges a pattern of brutality and unconstitutional policing in Baltimore County and a lack of proper training of officers. — Mike Hellgren, CBS News, 25 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for brutality

Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutality

Noun

Law enforcement sources involved in the case told WJZ that the horse was being cared for by someone who is facing animal cruelty and abandonment charges in an unrelated case in West Virginia.

— Tara Lynch, CBS News, 25 Aug. 2026
The real problem is the culture, and when culture rewards cruelty, the damage spreads.

— Jodi Bondi Norgaard, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of cruelty

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
But what Cameron represents to Harper is unfettered animalism, and that’s part of what’s missing in her relationship with Ethan.

— Marlow Stern, Rolling Stone, 12 Dec. 2022

Definition of animalism

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

Definition of animality

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brutal

brutality

brutalize

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“Brutality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutality. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of brutality

noun

Example Sentences

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