adjective
-
intending, capable of, or guilty of murder
-
informal very dangerous, difficult, or unpleasant
a murderous road
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of murderous
Explanation
A person who's murderous is cruel and violent enough to kill someone. If you are experiencing a murderous rage, it's best to stay inside and away from the public. A murderer, someone who kills deliberately, can be described as murderous. You can also use this adjective in an exaggerated way, simply to emphasize how mad someone is, like when you describe your brother's murderous expression when he realizes you've eaten the last of his Halloween candy. Murderous comes from murder, which in turn has its roots in the Old English morðor, "unlawful killing."
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.
But his accumulation of these works is outpaced by his prolific amassing of copies of “Clubland: The Fabulous Rise and Murderous Fall of Club Culture,” a favorably reviewed nonfiction book published in 2003.
From Washington Post • Mar. 8, 2022
When I was 13, I began to channel a burgeoning obsession with the Tudors into an evolving plan—How to Outmaneuver an All-Powerful and Murderous King.
From Slate • Apr. 3, 2015
His book To Katanga and Back and his play Murderous Angels were indictments of the role of the U.S. and Europe in the Congo war.
From Time Magazine Archive
He has a marvelous name for a dramatist, and it is a far, far better line than any in his play, Murderous Angels.
From Time Magazine Archive
“Nonsense, dear. Without peasants, who would do all the work? Anyway, it wasn’t peasants; it was pheasants. Murderous pheasants.”
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
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.
