as in cruelty
disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others
more than one reluctant dental patient has been tempted to level the charge of barbarity against their dentist
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Recent Examples of barbarity
As in Squid Game, dystopian drama often plays on the barbarity of entertainment, impossible promises of curing human weakness, and finds salvation in our best qualities: solidarity, compassion, and unity.
—
Rory Doherty, Time, 27 June 2025
Enforcing immigration policy does not have to be inhumane, but the Trump administration is gloating in the very barbarity.
—Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 14 June 2025
The Indigenous peoples who survived all this barbarity are now facing the same list of homicidal intolerance.
—Kevin Giraud, Variety, 7 June 2025
Self-defense group attacks agents The tragedy in the Artibonite region, considered the country’s breadbasket, is yet another example of Haiti’s descent into chaos and the degree to which impunity and barbarity rein as armed gangs tighten their grip.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 3 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for barbarity
Rory Doherty, Time, 27 June 2025
Enforcing immigration policy does not have to be inhumane, but the Trump administration is gloating in the very barbarity.
—Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 14 June 2025
The Indigenous peoples who survived all this barbarity are now facing the same list of homicidal intolerance.
—Kevin Giraud, Variety, 7 June 2025
Self-defense group attacks agents The tragedy in the Artibonite region, considered the country’s breadbasket, is yet another example of Haiti’s descent into chaos and the degree to which impunity and barbarity rein as armed gangs tighten their grip.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 3 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for barbarity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barbarity
Noun
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Being tied to the mast of a regime defined by cruelty and graft is a problem of another magnitude entirely.—
Dónal Gill,
The Dial,
28 Oct. 2025
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After shifting power to the people—like a year-plus bus boycott can do, for example—and getting the government to lessen its corruption, cruelty, injustice or violence, defending those gains is a must.—
Michael Shank,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Biden was slow to react to Netanyahu's growing brutality and, as Harris says in her book, failed to show sufficient empathy for the plight of the Gazans.—
Kate Plummer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
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The movie begins with a 10-year-old Michael already showing the brutality for which The Shape was known, then flashes forward 15 years to an adult Michael (Tyler Mane) pursuing his younger sister, Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton).—
Jessica Sager,
PEOPLE,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Barbarity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barbarity. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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