noun
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behaviour or an action that is wicked or ruthless
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the fact or quality of being atrocious
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(usually plural) acts of extreme cruelty, esp against prisoners or civilians in wartime
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of atrocity
1525–35; < Latin atrōcitās, equivalent to atrōci- (stem of atrōx ) fierce + -tās -ty 2
Explanation
Atrocities, acts of outrageous cruelty, are often committed during wars and armed conflicts. The word atrocity describes both the act of cruelty as well as the sense of cruelty. If you go to visit a poorly run prison, you might be overwhelmed by the atrocity of the place when you see that no one is treated with respect, and torture is rampant. The word atrocity is also often used in the context of warfare and frequently as a plural. There were numerous atrocities on both sides, as the war raged on and the fighters’ capacity for cruelty seemed to increase.
Vocabulary lists containing atrocity
The Things They Carried
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The Hate U Give
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This Week in Words : December 23 - 29, 2017
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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:
She ended up staying with the Lawrences for a further two and a half years to help in the aftermath of the atrocity and they remain close today.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Were my parents trying to spare me, as a young child, from learning about human atrocity, or was the Holocaust, and the damage it had done to our family, too difficult for them to confront?
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
In its nearly 25 years of existence, the ICC has secured only six final convictions for atrocity crimes after appeals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Addressing an urgent debate at the UN Human Rights Council, Turk urged world leaders to take immediate action to prevent atrocity crimes.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
But even as I write now, I can’t help but think that it would be an atrocity to let our ending come like this.
From "Hurricane Child" by Kheryn Callender
Since the 1990s, many towns in countries across Europe, including in Germany and Austria, have embedded small brass plaques in the streets in memory of Jews and other victims of Nazi atrocities.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
"A generation after 9/11, we also know that the final response to those atrocities and the ultimate victory over the perpetrators will not be found on a foreign battlefield," Trump said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
“The Bush administration found that there really are atrocities, human rights violations, genocide for which there are no other alternatives,” to the international court, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
The UN has repeatedly warned that RSF advances in El-Obeid and the wider Kordofan region could lead to mass atrocities.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
On the way home I overheard some children vow never to return; others vowed to relate to their parents the day’s atrocities.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
