Synonyms of brutality

brutality

noun

brü-ˈta-lə-tē 

1

as in cruelty

disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others

the police were accused of brutality for using excessive force in making arrests

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

2

as in brutishness

the manifestation of the traits or the gratification of the appetites of a lower animal

the disconcerting ease with which the people adopted the brutality of the enemy invaders

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cruelty
• brutishness
• animalism
• bestiality
• animality
• beastliness
• barbarity
• sensuality
• physicality
• savagery
• rudeness
• carnality
• swinishness
• sadism
• boorishness
• viciousness
• crudeness
• grossness
• coarseness
• loutishness
• wantonness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• spirituality
• intellectuality
• nobility
• magnanimity
• compassion
• kindness
• benevolence
• beneficence
• benignity
• kindliness
• high-mindedness
• greatheartedness
• tenderheartedness
• kindheartedness
• good-heartedness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of brutality

Eventually, Columbus was arrested on mismanagement and brutality charges and died a broken man. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Sep. 2026

And despite the brutality of the crime, Andrew’s 32-year-old daughter Lizzie quickly became a prime suspect. — Alex Gurley, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2026

The atrocities committed in Chile were similar to those in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and Central America, where leftist movements and guerrillas were squashed with incredible brutality. — Literary Hub, 18 Sep. 2026

The killings and subsequent trial of Lizzie became the subject of intense fascination, both for the brutality of the crimes and the possibility that a 32-year-old woman could have been responsible. — Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Sep. 2026