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:
She added: "I know I would have made a bloody good granny."
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
The Buddha, seeing him bruised, bloody, and weeping, smiles and tells him he must bear it.
From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2026
They also need a communications program on social media aimed at educating young people about the events that schools ignore—from the bloody history of communism to the Holocaust and 9/11.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Ashley Hernandez, a Wilmington resident and organizer with the nonprofit Communities for a Better Environment, said bloody noses and noxious fumes were a regular part of life in the neighborhood growing up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
With that one bloody exception, we have been living with it successfully for over two hundred years.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
“History teaches us a simple lesson: Wars without a clear objective do not stay small. They get bigger, they get bloodier, they get longer, they get more expensive,” Schumer said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2026
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
The challenge of global order is that, hard as it is to preserve, it is harder and usually bloodier to piece together once lost.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 12, 2024
The bad news is that, now, the battle for best picture will be bloodier than ever.
From New York Times ● Jan. 3, 2024
Milroy's command debouched into the Valley of the Shenandoah, already memorable for its many bloody conflicts, and destined to become yet more memorable by reason of still other and far bloodier battles.
From Slavery and Four Years of War, Vol. 1-2 A Political History of Slavery in the United States Together With a Narrative of the Campaigns and Battles of the Civil War In Which the Author Took Part: 1861-1865 by Joseph Warren Keifer
The 60-year-old general had come under criticism for the costly defense of Bakhmut, one of the bloodiest battles of the war.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
It was a key chapter in the road to independence in 1963, and the British response was one of the bloodiest episodes in its colonial history.
From Barron's ● Feb. 14, 2026
One of the bloodiest incidents was the Battle of the Braes on Skye in 1882.
From BBC ● May 22, 2025
Although this may have been the bloodiest incident involving American tourists at the historic monument, it is far from the first.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2025
Marines had captured the Japanese island of Iwo Jima in some of the bloodiest fighting in the history of the American military.
From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin
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
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
Caroline Dubois floored and bloodied Terri Harper before outpointing her British rival to become the unified lightweight world champion at London's Olympia.
From BBC ● Apr. 5, 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
“You look like you could use a rest, Alter,” Mrs. Brenner said with a small smile, taking the bloodied cloth back from me.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
