MUTILATE Synonyms: 79 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How does the verb 'mutilate' contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of mutilate are batter , cripple , maim , and mangle . While all these words mean "to injure so severely as to cause lasting damage," mutilate implies the cutting off or removal of an essential part of a person or thing thereby impairing its completeness, beauty, or function. // a tree mutilated by inept pruning

Q: Where would 'batter' be a reasonable alternative to 'mutilate'?

Although the words batter and mutilate have much in common, batter implies a series of blows that bruise deeply, deform, or mutilate. // an old ship battered by fierce storms

Q: When is 'cripple' a more appropriate choice than 'mutilate'?

The words cripple and mutilate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, cripple implies the loss or serious impairment of an arm or leg. // crippled for life in an accident

Q: When can 'maim' be used instead of 'mutilate'?

The meanings of maim and mutilate largely overlap; however, maim implies the loss or injury of a bodily member through violence. // maimed by a shark

Q: When could 'mangle' be used to replace 'mutilate'?

While in some cases nearly identical to mutilate , mangle implies a tearing or crushing that leaves deep wounds. // a soldier's leg mangled by shrapnel

mutilate

verb

ˈmyü-tə-ˌlāt

Definition of mutilate

as in to cripple

to cause severe or permanent injury to was lucky not to be mutilated in the car crash

Synonyms & Similar Words

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How does the verb mutilate contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of mutilate are batter, cripple, maim, and mangle. While all these words mean "to injure so severely as to cause lasting damage," mutilate implies the cutting off or removal of an essential part of a person or thing thereby impairing its completeness, beauty, or function.

a tree mutilated by inept pruning

Where would batter be a reasonable alternative to mutilate?

Although the words batter and mutilate have much in common, batter implies a series of blows that bruise deeply, deform, or mutilate.

an old ship battered by fierce storms

When is cripple a more appropriate choice than mutilate?

The words cripple and mutilate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, cripple implies the loss or serious impairment of an arm or leg.

crippled for life in an accident

When can maim be used instead of mutilate?

The meanings of maim and mutilate largely overlap; however, maim implies the loss or injury of a bodily member through violence.

maimed by a shark

When could mangle be used to replace mutilate?

While in some cases nearly identical to mutilate, mangle implies a tearing or crushing that leaves deep wounds.

a soldier's leg mangled by shrapnel

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of mutilate The 21-year-old pleaded not guilty last month to charges including first-degree murder with special circumstances, lewd and lascivious acts with an individual under 14 and mutilating a body. — Austin Turner, CBS News, 7 Sep. 2026 Gein murdered at least two women, as well as illegally exhumed and mutilated multiple corpses, in the 1940s and 1950s. — Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026 Clayface stars Tom Rhys Harries (White Lines, Suspicion) as Matt Hagen, a promising actor in Gotham City who’s left mutilated by a mob boss for sleeping with the gangster’s girlfriend. — Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 21 July 2026 Rhaenyra’s aunt, Rhaenys, is slain in the fight, and Aegon is mutilated, his own dragon left for dead on the field. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 5 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for mutilate

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mutilate

Verb

Block that passage, the thinking went, and China’s economy would be crippled.

— Andy Browne, semafor.com, 6 Oct. 2026
In the days after the ceasefire broke down, the Houthis announced a blockade on Saudi shipping, and launched attacks crippling Saudi Arabia’s oil export infrastructure.

— Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of cripple

Verb

Verity follows Lowen Ashleigh (played by Dakota Johnson), a struggling writer hired to finish the bestselling book series of renowned author Verity Crawford after an accident leaves her incapacitated.

— Beatrice Verhoeven, HollywoodReporter, 5 Oct. 2026
Smit Machchhar with the cockpit's crash axe, incapacitating him and causing the aircraft to plummet before passengers on board seized control of the plane.

— Michael Sinkewicz , Elizabeth Pritchett, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of incapacitate

Verb

Not only does Jeong-yo have an emotional connection to his music performance that Pi-o struggles to find himself, but Pi-o has injured his pinky in the leadup to the final performance, thanks to his obsessive practicing.

— Kayti Burt, Time, 6 Oct. 2026
Someone else got stabbed, and two other people were allegedly injured.

— Bethy Squires, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of injure

Verb

Through its stance, the NHL bears a share of responsibility for the people killed and maimed in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

— Dominik Hasek, Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2026
That’s how this season starts, and Reacher’s methods of maiming and/or killing only get more elaborate.

— Bethy Squires, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of maim

Verb

The memo came the day that courtroom testimony highlighted ways in which two ICE officers involved in a vehicle stop, pursuit and shooting that wounded a delivery driver in Austin last month would not have complied with the new guidance.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 2 Oct. 2026
When the smoke cleared, three of the Dalton gang lay dead; Emmett was wounded but survived.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of wound

Verb

The Defense Ministry said late Sunday that recent strikes on refineries in cities, including Moscow, Yaroslavl, Ust-Luga, Perm, Saratov and Syzran, had disabled 51% of Russia's oil refining capacity.

— HANNA ARHIROVA, Arkansas Online, 6 Oct. 2026
The Defense Ministry said late Sunday that recent strikes on refineries in cities, including Moscow, Yaroslavl, Ust-Luga, Perm, Saratov and Syzran, had disabled 51% of Russia’s oil refining capacity.

— Hanna Arhirova, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of disable

Verb

On the politics, his statement summons a legacy-killing disaster by wagering that nothing will go wrong, when something likely will go wrong during his presidency.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 5 Oct. 2026
Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD, was founded in 1980 by a mother whose 13-year-old daughter was killed by an intoxicated driver.

— Kent Sepkowitz, STAT, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of kill

Verb

In what ways the life of a creative artist, and the deaths that inevitably scar it, can leak into the ensuing work—through the cracks of a poem, or a movie, or a song—is, let’s face it, a conundrum that has been worried into exhaustion.

— Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
The 52-year-old wife of Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to the Norwegian throne, was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, a chronic disease that causes scarring in the lungs and leads to a reduced oxygen uptake.

— CNN Money, CNN Money, 17 June 2026

Definition of scar

Browse Nearby Words

mutes

mutilate

mutilated

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“Mutilate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mutilate. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of mutilate

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