1
as in brutal
having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others
a barbaric dictator who tortured his own people with no qualms
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2
as in barbarian
not civilized
the barbaric forebears of modern mankind
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Recent Examples of barbaric
Firing squad execution: Is the 'barbaric' method making a comeback?
—
Amanda Lee Myers, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2025
The most criminal and barbaric ‘migrant horde’ to invade America was from Europe.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 19 Mar. 2025
Is the 'barbaric' method making a comeback?
—Amanda Lee Myers, USA TODAY, 12 Mar. 2025
The German occupiers, however, acted with barbaric brutality, exterminating local Jewish populations and starving to death approximately two million Soviet prisoners of war by March 1942.
—Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for barbaric
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barbaric
Adjective
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When local Officer and single mother Dana Cypress is unexpectedly thrown into the center of a brutal murder mystery of her own, she’s left to make sense of the chaos amidst a town gripped by fear and confusion where everyone, alive or undead, is a suspect.—
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Bruno Silva via first-round KO This finish was absolutely brutal.—
Adjective
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In contrast, East Asia witnessed a 300-year period of peace between the 1590s and 1894, broken only by defensive engagements against barbarian incursions and five fairly small two-state wars.—
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Based on the best-selling comic book series, the fantasy follows barbarian huntress Red Sonja, who must unite a group of unlikely warriors to face off against the evil tyrant Emperor Draygan and his deadly bride, Dark Annisia.—
Adjective
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Scheifele’s emotional and inspirational decision to play mere hours after his father’s unexpected death — to play for his dad, to play because of his dad — ended in cruel fashion, with Scheifele helpless in the penalty box.—
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At first the program seems to be benign, but Hayakawa’s film steadily reveals how the policy thrives on the cruel capitalist tenet that people are disposable.—
Adjective
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Proctor sent a series of rude, lewd and unprofessional text messages about Read and the investigation, which led to his firing.—
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There was also a three-homer game for Pablo Sandoval in the 2012 World Series, but it’s considered rude to talk about that in 2025.—
Adjective
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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.—
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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.—
Adjective
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His father, the lawyer and judge John Marshall Clemens, had sunk the family’s money into land in Tennessee, and though the plan went nowhere, the impulse toward wild speculation seems to have imprinted on young Samuel Langhorne Clemens.—
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The conversation soon shifted to a wild admission related to cosmetic procedures.—
Adjective
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But even when locked in a tense, deadly standoff with the vicious Barbie, Moulin doesn’t break, and his courage and silence helps lead to the liberation of France, while leaving behind a new spirit of strength and resistance.—
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Bone Tomahawk Year: 2015 Runtime: 2h 11m Director: S. Craig Zahler S. Craig Zahler has become one of the most divisive filmmakers working today after three vicious, brutal movies — Bone Tomahawk, Brawl in Cell Block 99, and Dragged Across Concrete.—
Adjective
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The barbarous relic has glittered amidst the financial carnage.—
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How does Reed manage to revisit some of the world’s most barbarous acts without succumbing to despair?—
Cite this Entry
“Barbaric.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barbaric. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
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