massacre
Americannoun
-
the unnecessary, indiscriminate killing of a large number of human beings or animals, as in barbarous warfare or persecution or for revenge or plunder.
- Synonyms:
- genocide, butchery, extermination, carnage
-
a general slaughter, as of persons or animals.
the massacre of millions during the war.
- Synonyms:
- genocide, butchery, extermination, carnage
-
Informal. a crushing defeat, especially in sports.
verb (used with object)
-
to kill unnecessarily and indiscriminately, especially a large number of persons.
- Synonyms:
- slay
-
Informal. to defeat decisively, especially in sports.
noun
-
the wanton or savage killing of large numbers of people, as in battle
-
informal an overwhelming defeat, as in a game
verb
-
to kill indiscriminately or in large numbers
-
informal to defeat overwhelmingly
Usage
What does massacre mean? A massacre is a large-scale killing of people or animals, especially defenseless ones. The word implies that such a killing was especially unnecessary, brutal, and indiscriminate. An event in which soldiers kill many civilians could be called a massacre. Mass shootings are massacres. Massacre can also be used in a more general way to refer to killing on a large-scale, as in This war will result in the massacre of millions. Massacre can also be used as a verb in both of these senses, as in The flock was massacred by the pack of wolves. Massacre is also used figuratively as a noun and a verb in the context of a decisive defeat, especially a one-sided sporting event, as in It was a massacre—we lost 12-0. Example: Every day, the news tells us of yet another massacre of innocent people by a person with a gun.
Synonym Usage
See slaughter.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
massacresimple
-
massacressimple
-
have massacredperfect
-
has massacredperfect
-
am massacringprogressive
-
are massacringprogressive
-
is massacringprogressive
-
have been massacringperfect progressive
-
has been massacringperfect progressive
Past
-
massacredsimple
-
had massacredperfect
-
was massacringprogressive
-
were massacringprogressive
-
had been massacringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of massacre
First recorded in 1575–85; (noun), from Middle French massacre, noun derivative of massacrer, Old French maçacrer, macecler, probably from unattested Vulgar Latin matteūcculāre, verbal derivative of unattested matteūca “mallet” ( see mashie, mace 1); (verb) from Middle French massacrer
Explanation
A massacre is a big bloody mess of killing, and usually for no good reason. Not that there’s ever a good reason for killing, but massacres are especially pointless and gory. It’s unclear where the word massacre came from, but possibly it was the Old French word macacre, which means “slaughterhouse.” As a noun, massacre is a brutal slaughter of humans or animals, and it can be a verb as well, like when an army massacres an entire village of innocent people. Pronounce it like MASS-uh-ker, and remember to spell it with an acre at the end, which is how much land is needed to bury the bodies after a massacre.
Vocabulary lists containing massacre
This Week in Words: November 4 - 10, 2017
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
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The American Revolution - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Following the ceremony, Chief Rabbi Schudrich spoke out against divisive narratives surrounding the history of the massacre.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
If weekend warriors can’t slay zombies on a dystopian battlefield, at least they can massacre dandelions in their backyards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Pratt returned to “The Alex Jones Show” in 2017, when the host was under fire for falsely portraying the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut as a hoax.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
Bush’s phone calls during the Tiananmen Square massacre.
From MarketWatch ● May 14, 2026
“If you want to put it that way. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for my country—no sacrifice too great to keep my people alive and out of slavery, to keep another massacre from happening.”
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
Its leaders rejected emigration to Palestine and, after the pogroms and massacres that accompanied Russia’s collapse, went into exile or were crushed by the Soviets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
“There were massacres against Indigenous communities, they were forced to have one religion,” Sheinbaum said last week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2026
According to the UN, around 115,000 people have entered Lebanon from Syria since the fall of Assad, many of them since the sectarian massacres that targeted the Alawite minority on the Syrian coast in March.
From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026
The man in the tub is the French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat, a journalist and physician who had incited a series of judicial massacres.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025
In America, we live in a world where Kim Kardashian dominates the news, not massacres in Africa.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
During a session on Iran's record, Bahreini urged the UN's top rights body to instead discuss the Iranian cultural heritage under "indiscriminate" attack and "the innocent children massacred at their school desks".
From Barron's ● Mar. 16, 2026
Over the last two decades, North American bats have been devastated by a fungal disease called white-nose syndrome that has massacred millions of the flying mammals.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2024
Richard said: "To get even one goal was a surprise, that was a delight. I think I will wake up in a minute and we will be getting massacred 7-0."
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2024
“They massacred our forest,” Nejla Isik, from the Ikizkoy Environment Committee, said at a meeting with lawyers reported by the Duvar newspaper.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 31, 2023
“Have you ever seen such a thing, Cullen?” my mom asked me as she massacred Caleb Cooper’s seven-year-old head of hair.
From "Where Things Come Back" by John Corey Whaley
But our current situation — the one that is becoming increasingly harder to ignore — really began about three years ago, when bird flu began spreading rapidly in wild birds, massacring millions of them.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2024
She made it sound as if they were massacring endangered baby eagles.
From Slate ● Feb. 16, 2019
Not the Adams of Founding Father fame, but John Adams when he was a younger man, who in 1770 agreed to defend British soldiers accused of massacring Boston colonists.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2016
“Yes, Uber is bringing in new technology. Yes, it’s creating jobs. But at what cost? The cost of massacring others through unfair competition.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 3, 2015
"Still, after all your training, it is sad to see him massacring his faithful mentor," said the Honourable John Ruffin.
From Happy Pollyooly The Rich Little Poor Girl by Jepson, Edgar
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
