massacre

1 of 2

noun

mas·sa·cre ˈma-si-kər

Synonyms of massacre

: the act or an instance of killing a number of usually helpless or unresisting human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty

witnessed the massacre of a boatload of refugees

: a cruel or wanton (see wanton entry 1 sense 1a) murder

: a wholesale slaughter of animals

Residents engaged in a citywide cat massacre.

: an act of complete destruction

… the author's massacre of traditional federalist presuppositions.—R. G. McCloskey

the Puritan massacre of statues and pictures—Robert Hughes

massacre

2 of 2

verb

massacred; massacring ˈma-si-k(ə-)riŋ

transitive verb

: to kill by massacre

: mangle sense 2

… words were misspelled and syntax massacred.—Bice Clemow

massacrer

ˈma-si-kər-ər

-krər

noun

Synonyms of massacre

Relevance

Noun

slaughter

Verb

slaughter

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of massacre in a Sentence

Noun The game turned out to be a complete massacre. the infamous massacre of more than 200 Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota Verb Hundreds have been massacred in the uprising. The other team really massacred us on Saturday. He really massacred that song.

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Noun

In 2022, 36 people were killed, 24 of them children, in a massacre at a childcare center in the northeast, believed to be the country’s deadliest incident of its kind. — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2026 In 2022, an ex-policeman armed with a gun and knife stormed into a nursery in the country's north and murdered 24 children and 12 adults in one of Thailand's deadliest massacres. — CBS News, 7 Aug. 2026

Verb

The transition to the climax, when Odysseus massacres his wife’s suitors with the help of Athena’s magic and son Telemachus (Alan Stenson), is also fairly rushed. — Elaina Patton, IndieWire, 24 July 2026 In an effort to starve the Native Americans of the Great Plains, white settlers massacred many millions of North American buffalo between 1870 and 1890, piling the animals’ skulls into monstrous mounds reaching up to the sky. — Literary Hub, 20 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for massacre

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle French

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1578, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1581, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of massacre was circa 1578

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Massacre.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/massacre. Accessed 13 Aug. 2026.

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Kids Definition

massacre

1 of 2 verb

mas·sa·cre ˈmas-i-kər

massacred; massacring

-k(ə-)riŋ

: to kill in a massacre : slaughter

massacrer

-i-kər-ər,

-i-krər

noun

massacre

2 of 2 noun

: the violent and cruel killing of a number of persons

massacre

noun

verb

Synonyms of massacre

Examples of massacre in a Sentence

Word History

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Kids Definition

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