filicide

Definition of filicidenext

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 filicide Each year in the United States there are nearly 500 arrests for filicide – which is the legal term for when parents kill their children – according to an analysis of FBI data by Forensic Science International. Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 22 Apr. 2026 More rare are filicides of the sort Elkins allegedly committed. Lauren Villagran, USA Today, 21 Apr. 2026 One study of maternal filicide observed that, whereas psychotic mothers often acted suddenly, depressed mothers tended to contemplate killing their children for days or weeks before acting. Eren Orbey, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024 See All Example Sentences for filicide
Recent Examples of Synonyms for filicide
Noun
  • In the case of Tom Brandis, played by the singular Mark Ruffalo, a tragedy (matricide) has devastated his family unit.
    Justin Kroll, Deadline, 2 June 2026
  • At the center of the installation is the myth of Orestes, which hinges on the justification of matricide.
    Eana Kim, ARTnews.com, 27 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • But instead of employing a ball gown, glass slippers, and a grand carriage made from a pumpkin, the renegade maid comes to her damsel in distress armed with a different kind of escape plan—one involving an axe and a double parricide.
    Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 4 Aug. 2026
  • The Avici hell is the lowest and most terrible level of the eight hot hells of Buddhism, where those who’ve committed serious crimes (like parricide) must face constant suffering.
    Regina Kim, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
Noun
  • This may be the highest profile local example of fiduciary law since the Menendez brothers’ trials three decades ago, when their family estate spent nearly $2 million to unsuccessfully defend them in the patricide of their parents.
    Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Bass in June 2024 saw the patricide plan to it to its end, reducing his father, Gene Bass, to a crumple outside a neighbor’s house in the orderly subdivision where Xavier grew up near North Crowley High School.
    Emerson Clarridge, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • But Iran did little to stop the fratricide.
    Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 2 Sep. 2025
  • But what is absolutely clear to me right now is that this Israeli government is committing suicide, homicide and fratricide.
    Thomas L. Friedman, Mercury News, 28 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • They were rewarded for their regicide when Thatcher’s successor, John Major, unexpectedly won the following election in 1992.
    Ian King, CNBC, 24 June 2026
  • Unlike the Conservative Party, however, Labour does not have a history of regicide; the party has never mounted an official challenge against a sitting prime minister.
    Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 11 May 2026
Noun
  • The 63-year-old Davis was convicted Monday of murder with the use of a deadly weapon and could be sentenced to life in prison.
    Jonathan Landrum Jr, Chicago Tribune, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder in the January 2023 strangulation deaths of her three children – Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months – at the family's Duxbury, Massachusetts, home.
    Melina Khan, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • Troopers from the New Jersey State Police Marine Bureau arrested Kevin Wells, 40, of Warren, New Jersey, on Friday, charging him with vehicular homicide and two counts of assault by vessel while intoxicated.
    Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 1 Sep. 2026
  • The 10-episode drama stars Liev Schreiber as Jonah Lynn, a former soldier turned homicide detective who moves to a small town in western Pennsylvania after working the tough streets of Philadelphia.
    Maira Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Filicide.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/filicide. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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