Synonyms of massacre

massacre 1 of 2

noun

ˈma-si-kər 

as in slaughter

the killing of a large number of people

the infamous massacre of more than 200 Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota

Synonyms & Similar Words

• slaughter
• carnage
• death
• genocide
• holocaust
• murder
• bloodbath
• butchery
• killing
• slaying
• bloodshed
• extermination
• destruction
• homicide
• devastation
• manslaughter
• assassination
• mortality
• annihilation
• execution
• pogrom
• bloodletting
• eradication
• decimation
• foul play
• demolishing

massacre

2 of 2

verb

as in to slaughter

to kill on a large scale

the country's rival ethnic groups began massacring one another

Synonyms & Similar Words

• slaughter
• murder
• butcher
• slay
• assassinate
• dispatch
• execute
• destroy
• mow (down)
• eradicate
• fell
• exterminate
• wipe out
• smite
• demolish
• snuff
• annihilate
• waste
• decimate
• blot out
• do in
• devastate
• croak

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of massacre

Noun

Just one incident resulted in a news organization being sued: the 2018 newsroom massacre at the Capital Gazette that killed five journalists. —Cristóbal Reyes, Orlando Sentinel, 29 Jan. 2025

The partnership with the Christian militias led to one of the darkest moments in Israeli history, when the country was implicated in the massacres at the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila perpetrated by the Christian Phalange militia. —Isabel Kershner, New York Times, 22 Jan. 2025

Verb

Two victims, teen high school girls, were massacred with machetes and baseball bats. —Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 21 Jan. 2025

The leader of the Wharf Jérémie gang, Altes was accused of massacring more than 200 mostly elderly Haitians last month. —Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 11 Jan. 2025