genocide

noun

Definition of genocidenext
as in pogrom
the deliberate killing of people who belong to a particular racial, political, or cultural group

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for genocide
  1. pogrom
  2. massacre
  3. slaughter
  4. holocaust
  5. carnage
  6. murder
  7. butchery
  8. bloodshed
Noun
  • Qusra has suffered from constant settler pogroms over the last few months.
    — David Shulman, The New York Review of Books, 26 Aug. 2026
  • In conversations with the American Jewish Committee, Ossoff shared that his father is of Russian and Lithuanian Jewish descent, and his relatives fled pogroms and antisemitism in Eastern Europe.
    — Irene Wright, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of pogrom
Noun
  • Authorities said Willeford, who lived near the church, grabbed his own gun and shot and chased the gunman, helping to stop the massacre.
    — Holly Yan, CNN Money, 16 Oct. 2026
  • In the coming years, the massacre generation is on track to become part of the largest voting bloc in the country.
    — Jillian Turanovic, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of massacre
Noun
  • One of the leading explanations for its origin goes back to an older meaning of the word ‘bucket’ — a beam or yoke from which animals could be suspended during slaughter.
    — Jim Dudlicek, Chicago Tribune, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Now, as then, the dehumanization of Arab and Muslim lives is embedded in the very language used to describe their slaughter.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of slaughter
Noun
  • August 29, the fictional date (in 1997) of the franchise’s original nuclear holocaust, is fast approaching, and Judgment Day is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Fears about environmental devastation, overpopulation, energy depletion, and a nuclear holocaust were omnipresent, manifested in books such as The Population Bomb, the back-to-the-land movement, and the entire Hollywood disaster-movie genre.
    — James Kirchick, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of holocaust
Noun
  • There’s a slickness to the carnage that rubs uncomfortably against the film’s humanist ethos, rendering artificial (for all Shen Teng’s trembling and mouth-contorting labors) the horrific tragedies that befall its characters.
    — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026
  • International outrage over the carnage in Gaza, meanwhile, has largely subsided, with many countries preferring a failing peace process to none at all.
    — KHALED ELGINDY, Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of carnage
Noun
  • The boy was booked into Placer County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of murder, Gaines said.
    — Daniel Hunt, Sacbee.com, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Three men in Mexico received 158-year prison sentences Friday for the murders of Australian surfers Callum and Jake Robinson and their American friend Carter Redd Rhoad.
    — Robert McGreevy, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of murder
Noun
  • Running parallel to this butchery investigation is the arrival of perpetually hungover FBI agent Gwen Birgssen, played by British actress Lily James with an incomprehensible southern drawl and some clunky platitudes that veer into genre parody.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Yet despite the technical wizardry—dry-aging, fermentation, curing, meticulous butchery—the dishes never feel overly cerebral.
    — Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of butchery
Noun
  • These laws had accumulated piecemeal over generations, but American critics portrayed them as a single system with bloodshed at its center.
    — Maurizio Valsania, The Conversation, 14 Oct. 2026
  • After those twelve days, the bloodshed followed a deliberate design.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of bloodshed
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.

Browse Nearby Words

genius locis
genocide
genocides
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Cite this Entry

“Genocide.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/genocide. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on genocide

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about genocide

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