Synonyms for butchery
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Slaughter — the cruel, ruthless killings of humans, as if at a slaughterhouse
slaughter, massacre, carnage, bloodshed, slaughtering, murder, killing, mass murder
2. Butcher shop — A butcher's shop; a meat market
3. Slaughterhouse — an abattoir
Other
Definitions
- n. 1
A butcher's shop; a meat market.
- n. 2
The cruel, ruthless killings of humans, as if at a slaughterhouse.
- n. 3
An abattoir.
Related words
- Is a kind of
- manslaughter killing
Forms
- Plural
- butcheries → slaughters, massacres, carnages, bloodsheds…
Choose the right word
A massacre is the indiscriminate killing in numbers of the unresisting or defenseless; butchery is the killing of men rudely and ruthlessly as cattle are killed in the shambles.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- massacre Jonas is the mastermind behind the entire massacre.
- slaughter The slaughter of the prisoners was a barbarous act.
- carnage Police encountered a scene of unspeakable carnage.
- bloodshed The Algerian government wants to avoid bloodshed.
- butchering Please forgive me for butchering the pronunciation.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| butchery | rising | |
| massacre | rising | |
| slaughter | falling | |
| carnage | rising | |
| bloodshed | steady | |
| butchering | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 6 letters
- murder2
- 7 letters
- killing2, carnage2
- 8 letters
- massacre3, butchers2, shambles2, abattoir3
- 9 letters
- slaughter2, bloodshed2
- 10 letters
- butchering3, slaughtery
- 12 letters
- slaughtering3
- 14 letters
- slaughterhouse3
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (murder2 = 2 syllables).