1
as in brutal
having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others
a barbaric dictator who tortured his own people with no qualms
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in barbarian
not civilized
the barbaric forebears of modern mankind
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Recent Examples of barbaric
And so much of the first season relied on the novel horror of watching the barbaric, exploitative Squid Game play out, hoping that protagonist Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) could hold onto his humanity in the face of it all.
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Kayti Burt, TIME, 26 Dec. 2024
But after the enormous success of It, a genuinely fantastic and wonderfully barbaric horror flick that managed to strike a chord with the general public despite its gore, the sequel’s budget was nearly doubled from $40 million to nearly $79 million.
—Travis Bean, Forbes, 23 Nov. 2024
Very few directors working today can put across a movie like Gladiator II as convincingly, which perhaps explains why the sequel — for all its barbaric violence and the plaintive, at times stirring, discussions about justice and democracy — doesn’t have the mournful quality that the first film did.
—Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 22 Nov. 2024
Sudanese who took the same route with other smugglers say they were subjected to barbaric conditions on the journey.
—Ryan Lenora Brown, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for barbaric 
Kayti Burt, TIME, 26 Dec. 2024
But after the enormous success of It, a genuinely fantastic and wonderfully barbaric horror flick that managed to strike a chord with the general public despite its gore, the sequel’s budget was nearly doubled from $40 million to nearly $79 million.
—Travis Bean, Forbes, 23 Nov. 2024
Very few directors working today can put across a movie like Gladiator II as convincingly, which perhaps explains why the sequel — for all its barbaric violence and the plaintive, at times stirring, discussions about justice and democracy — doesn’t have the mournful quality that the first film did.
—Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 22 Nov. 2024
Sudanese who took the same route with other smugglers say they were subjected to barbaric conditions on the journey.
—Ryan Lenora Brown, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for barbaric
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barbaric
Adjective
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Related article Japan’s leader demands answers from China over schoolboy’s fatal stabbing The sentiment is rooted in bitter memories of Japan’s invasion and brutal occupation in the 1930s and 1940s and fueled by present-day territorial disputes.—
Chris Lau,
CNN,
24 Jan. 2025
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Many excellent and capable people from rural areas were lost to this brutal movement, leading to a generational impact on China's progress.—
John Ruwitch,
NPR,
24 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Yet the real struggle between red and blue bears little resemblance to the flamboyant melodrama narrated by partisans, in which each side fights to defend humanity against a barbarian horde.—
Matthew Karp,
Harper's Magazine,
2 Oct. 2024
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Steve muses, as the clip cuts to barbarian humanoid pigs attacking a city.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
19 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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And having more thoughtful conversations doesn’t preclude the need sometimes to confront those who are needlessly cruel or organizations that benefit from such exploitation.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
18 Jan. 2025
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In recent months, the Justice Department and the state filed thousands of pages of new records in the lawsuit, including reports and sworn statements from pediatricians, scholars and others who describe Florida’s policies as archaic and cruel.—
Carol Marbin Miller,
Miami Herald,
17 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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To chastise you for attending to his mistake and then act as though your laundry were now tainted is rude and hypocritical.—
Judith Martin,
The Mercury News,
17 Jan. 2025
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The Joella deluge begins when Lana calls her out at the beginning of the episode for being rude during Untucked about her song.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
17 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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As savage Arctic cold was getting ready to surge south across North America, vivid imagery based on data from weather models showed us what was going to happen.—
Tom Yulsman,
Discover Magazine,
27 Dec. 2022
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The 2023 grand marshal is former Arizona Democratic congresswoman Gabby Giffords, gravely wounded in a savage mass shooting in 2011 that also killed six people.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Dec. 2022
Adjective
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The fact that goalie masks still have this individuality to put creativity and color that doesn’t even necessarily match is wild to me.—
Jesse Granger,
The Athletic,
21 Jan. 2025
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Targets Birthright Citizenship Her first foster pair of bald eagle chicks arrived in 1976, having been removed from their wild parents’ nest in Wisconsin.—
GrrlScientist,
Forbes,
21 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The roughest angle to imposter syndrome seems to be a potentially vicious cycle that can ensue.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes,
23 Jan. 2025
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Social media lit up with outrage directed toward Jubilee for giving voice to a vicious troll.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
23 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Experts told PolitiFact such narratives painting Haiti as a barbarous country are not new and are racist attempts to dehumanize Haitians.—
Jeff Cercone,
Austin American-Statesman,
14 Sep. 2024
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Treating barbarous body horror as something embedded in us deeper than the mutual love of a partner, especially when it’s done without the theatrical or exploitation trappings, makes for one of the New French Extremity’s most troubling works.—
Rory Doherty,
Vulture,
19 Sep. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near barbaric
Cite this Entry
“Barbaric.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barbaric. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
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