Synonyms

mutilate

American

[myoot-l-eyt] / ˈmjut lˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

to injure, disfigure, or make imperfect by removing or irreparably damaging parts.

Vandals mutilated the painting.

Synonyms:

cripple, mar, damage
to deprive (a person or animal) of a limb or other essential part.

mutilate British

/ ˈmjuːtɪˌleɪt /

verb

to deprive of a limb, essential part, etc; maim; dismember
to mar, expurgate, or damage (a text, book, etc)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

See maim.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of mutilate

1525–35; from Latin mutilātus (past participle of mutilāre “to cut off, maim”), equivalent to mutil(us) “maimed, mutilated” + -ātus -ate ¹

Explanation

Mutilate is a verb that means to injure or ruin, usually in a brutal or messy way. If you drop a cantaloupe into a wood chipper, you'll mutilate that poor melon, with chunks of fruit and rind flying everywhere. Mutilate can also mean altering an object so it's unrecognizable. Once you mutilate something, it'll no longer resemble its original form. Celebrities who get too much plastic surgery are said to mutilate their faces, because they no longer look like themselves. Mutilate can also describe causing a disfiguring injury. Monsters and evil villains in horror movies tend to mutilate their victims instead of neatly murdering them.

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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.

Fold, Spindke and Mutilate For such an innocuous little piece of paper, the computer punch card has loomed large in modern life.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023