EN

Synonyms for brutality

11 synonyms

noun

Most common

cruelty savagery barbarism barbarity

All synonyms

Noun

barbarity, barbarism, savagery, cruelty, viciousness, inhumanity, ferocity, atrocity, truculence, ferociousness, brutishness

Definitions

n. 1
The state of being brutal.

Forms

Plural: brutalities → barbarities, barbarisms, savageries, cruelties…

Example sentences

cruelty The prisoners were treated with monstrous cruelty.
savagery I don't tolerate savagery, much less in a country that claims to be democratic.
barbarism This is a fight between civilization and barbarism.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
brutality		rising
cruelty		rising
savagery		rising
barbarism		steady
barbarity		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

7 letters: cruelty²
8 letters: atrocity⁴, savagery⁴, ferocity⁴
9 letters: barbarism⁴, barbarity⁴
10 letters: inhumanity⁵, truculence
11 letters: viciousness³, brutishness
13 letters: ferociousness

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (cruelty² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: brutalité
Italiano: brutalità
Español: brutalidad
Deutsch: Brutalität