Synonyms of barbarity

barbarity

noun

bär-ˈber-ə-tē 

as in cruelty

disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others

more than one reluctant dental patient has been tempted to level the charge of barbarity against their dentist

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cruelty
• brutality
• atrocity
• savagery
• inhumanity
• savageness
• sadism
• heartlessness
• viciousness
• murderousness
• cruelness
• fiendishness
• barbarousness
• truculence
• wantonness
• inhumanness
• ruthlessness
• atrociousness
• mercilessness
• ferocity
• meanness
• pitilessness
• grimness
• oppressiveness
• bloodthirstiness
• fierceness
• ferociousness
• malevolence
• bloodlust
• malignity
• hard-heartedness
• spitefulness
• hatefulness
• unfeelingness
• maliciousness
• sanguinity
• fellness
• harshness
• nastiness
• sanguineness
• despitefulness
• cattiness
• heavy-handedness
• hardhandedness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• humanity
• sympathy
• compassion
• kindness
• humaneness
• benignity
• tenderness
• warmth
• tenderheartedness
• kindheartedness
• pity
• mercy
• warmness
• good-heartedness
• clemency
• leniency
• warmheartedness
• charitableness
• mercifulness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of barbarity

Even when there is little to celebrate in a world marked by barbarity, these events invite us to be together and, briefly, to look, feel, admire, and even disagree within a temporary gathering of images and spaces. — Raphael Fonseca, Artforum, 2 Apr. 2026

Thousands of children have been terrorized, detained, and many have been deported because of ICE’s unchecked barbarity. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 26 Jan. 2026

Cathy escapes, the Jimmies' numbers are diminished, and the stomach-churning barbarity finally comes to an end. — Megan McCluskey, Time, 16 Jan. 2026

His observations about the barbarity of women’s beauty regimens aren’t exactly new, but they are acted out with enthusiasm and verve. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2026