EN

Synonyms for slaughter

24 synonyms
2 meanings

noun
verb

Most common

killing massacre carnage butchery whipping thrashing mess

Synonyms by meaning

Noun

1. Butchery

butchery, massacre, carnage, killing, bloodshed, murder, destruction, mass murder, slaying, havoc

2. Thrashing

thrashing, whipping, debacle, walloping, drubbing

Other

Verb

butcher, slay, kill, dispatch, despatch UK, assassinate, mow down, smash, top

Definitions

n. 1
The killing of animals, generally for food.
n. 2
A massacre; the killing of a large number of people.
v. 1
To butcher animals, generally for food.

Related words

Word family: slaughterbot slaughterhouse slaughterman slaughterous slaughterer

Forms

Plural: slaughters → butcheries, massacres, carnages, killings…
Past participle: slaughtered
e.g. slaughtered → butchered, slain, killed, dispatched…

Example sentences

killing The bus fell off the cliff, killing all 10 aboard.
massacre Jonas is the mastermind behind the entire massacre.
carnage Police encountered a scene of unspeakable carnage.
butchery The bakery is next to the butchery.
whipping Tom could feel the air whipping his face as he ran.
thrashing We gave them a proper thrashing.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
slaughter		falling
killing		rising
massacre		rising
carnage		rising
butchery		rising
whipping		rising

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

By length

3 letters: top¹
4 letters: kill¹, mess¹, slay¹
5 letters: smash¹, havoc²
6 letters: murder²
7 letters: killing², butcher², carnage², slaying², debacle³
8 letters: massacre³, dispatch², whipping², despatch, butchery³, drubbing²
9 letters: bloodshed², thrashing², walloping³
11 letters: destruction³, assassinate⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (havoc² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: abattage
Italiano: abbattimento
Español: abatimiento
Deutsch: Schlachten