bloody
Americanadjective
-
bloodier,
comparative
-
bloodiest
superlative
-
stained or covered with blood.
a bloody handkerchief.
- Synonyms:
- gory, sanguinary
-
bleeding.
a bloody nose.
- Synonyms:
- gory, sanguinary
-
characterized by bloodshed.
bloody battle; a bloody rule.
- Synonyms:
- gory, sanguinary
-
inclined to bloodshed; bloodthirsty.
a bloody dictator.
-
of, relating to, or resembling blood; containing or composed of blood.
bloody tissue.
-
Slang. (used as an intensifier).
a bloody shame; a bloody nuisance.
verb (used with object)
-
bloodies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bloodied,
past participle, past
-
bloodying
present participle
-
to stain or smear with blood.
-
to cause to bleed, as by a blow or accident.
to bloody someone's nose.
adverb
adjective
-
covered or stained with blood
-
resembling or composed of blood
-
marked by much killing and bloodshed
a bloody war
-
cruel or murderous
a bloody tyrant
-
of a deep red colour; blood-red
adverb
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
bloodysimple
-
bloodiessimple
-
have bloodiedperfect
-
has bloodiedperfect
-
am bloodyingprogressive
-
are bloodyingprogressive
-
is bloodyingprogressive
-
have been bloodyingperfect progressive
-
has been bloodyingperfect progressive
Past
-
bloodiedsimple
-
had bloodiedperfect
-
was bloodyingprogressive
-
were bloodyingprogressive
-
had been bloodyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bloody
before 1000; Middle English blody, Old English blōdig. See blood, -y 1
Explanation
Something that's bloody is stained or covered with blood, like a bloody nose. In British slang, bloody means something like “very.” That’s bloody brilliant! Things that are literally bloody have blood on them or are made of blood. Figuratively bloody things, on the other hand, only imply blood — a bloody coup, for example, is a government overthrow that involves some amount of violence. To bloody something is to cover it in blood: "I will bloody your nose if you say that again!" It comes from the Old English blodig, from blod, or "blood."
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:
Hashim Thaci was convicted in one of the final verdicts in a series of landmark trials arising from the bloody dissolution of the former Yugoslavia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Kosovo's former president Hashim Thaci, sentenced to 25 years in prison Wednesday for war crimes, has long been seen within the Balkan country as a guerilla hero and symbol of its bloody independence struggle.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
Recognizing the bloody result of America’s post-9/11 conflicts, and especially its shambolic war of choice in Iraq, does not take away from the grief and respect owed to those who were killed.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
Abraham Mofokeng still carries the wounds of the bloody suppression of a protest in South Africa 66 years ago.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
“No. We didn’t only talk about that. But...I dunno...it gave me a weird feeling. And his dæmon chewing at her bloody leg...Except he was nice. He bought me some fish and chips.”
From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman
The Philippine-American War, as it became known, proved far bloodier than its precursor, especially once Aguinaldo turned to guerrilla tactics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2025
Police said the actions of that fourth officer likely spared the city from a bigger, bloodier attack.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 21, 2023
Their stories are little-known footnotes of Cold War history, but six American GIs provide possible roadmaps for his future — though a COVID-19-era development could be a benchmark for a bloodier outcome.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 19, 2023
But Mr. Sami argued that the Taliban takeover could have been even bloodier, signaling that they “would not repeat the mistakes of the 1990s.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 25, 2021
If you had not known better you might have mistaken it for the face of a lady of an earlier, a politer, though not of a bloodier age.
From The Paliser case by Edgar Saltus
The bloodiest crisis in Iran’s recent political history started in a conservative bastion: Tehran’s market area.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
But the extremely strained relations between the two sides after nearly four years of Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II have cast doubt over the prospect of direct Ukraine-Russia talks.
From Barron's ● Dec. 21, 2025
This is his Pynchoniad, a zigzagging epic of America and the world through our bloodiest, most shameful hundred years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2025
Steven Peters was deployed to Helmand Province in 2009, during a period which became known as the British Army’s bloodiest summer in more than 50 years.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2024
It was the bloodiest one-day battle in US history.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
But the outlook for more than one team joining the Wildcats is growing bleaker by the week as the conference bloodies itself.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 12, 2024
And when the pope returns to Rome on Sunday, the country’s woes will remain, both in the violence that bloodies the land and in the treasure buried in the soil.
From New York Times ● Feb. 4, 2023
But in creativity, knocking harder often just bloodies your knuckles.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 22, 2020
The son of a Yorkshire butcher, Bennett may be wishing against wish for a good honest job that bloodies the hands.
From Time Magazine Archive
He never bloodies his sword but in heat of battle, and had rather save one of his own soldiers than kill ten of his enemies.
From Character Writings of the 17th Century by Various
Machado Garry bloodied Makhachev's face with some punches in the clinch, but the Russian shrugged it off to reach the final bell ahead in a number of key stats.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
The ad featured the iconic photograph of Curran helping a bloodied Trump off the stage in Butler.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026
The winner of this primary might have earned little more than a third of the vote, and will enter the fall’s general election bloodied from high-profile slings and arrows from their own side.
From Salon ● Jan. 11, 2026
Her organisation recently carried out a mission to the Bulgaria-Turkey border, where NGOs have documented cases of animals trapped for days or weeks, bringing back footage of bloodied livestock and cows giving birth beside trucks.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2025
Dawn breaks, the sun’s rays tracing the sky above Blackcliff’s ebony belltower like bloodied fingers, tingeing everyone in the courtyard a lurid red.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
You have to applaud Hamrouni, in that moment and others, for literally bloodying the nose of the patriarchy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2023
Then at 5-3, while Raducanu was serving for the match, she slid on the court chasing a ball to her backhand side, bloodying her left knee.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 11, 2021
Descending after the first big drop, it was reported that a 10-pound goose suddenly materialized in front of Fabio's face, bloodying him and then expiring as a result of the midair collision.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2021
The sports world should have seen several more years of that Ali, opening jaws and bloodying lips, but two fights later, his 1,314 days in exile began.
From Slate ● Jun. 4, 2016
Deciding it would be better to stand the rest of the way than risk bloodying my nose, I rose to my feet and offered him my seat.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
