atrocity
[ uh-tros-i-tee ]
/ əˈtrɒs ɪ ti /
noun, plural a·troc·i·ties.
RELATED WORDS
horror, barbarity, brutality, inhumanity, evil, crime, enormity, wickedness, nefariousness, savagery, infamy, iniquity, abomination, monstrosity, wrong, offense, outrage, monstrousness
Nearby words
- atrium,
- atroceruleous,
- atrocious,
- atrocious assault and battery,
- atrociously,
- atropatene,
- atrophedema,
- atrophia,
- atrophic,
- atrophic arthritis
Origin of atrocity
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for atrocity
atrocity
/ (əˈtrɒsɪtɪ) /
noun plural -ties
behaviour or an action that is wicked or ruthless
the fact or quality of being atrocious
(usually plural) acts of extreme cruelty, esp against prisoners or civilians in wartime
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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atrocity
1530s, from Middle French atrocité or directly from Latin atrocitatem (nominative atrocitas) "cruelty, fierceness, harshness," noun of quality from atrox "fierce, cruel, frightful," from PIE *atro-ek-, from root *ater- "fire" (see atrium) + *okw- "see" (see eye (n.)); thus "of fiery or threatening appearance." The meaning "an atrocious deed" is from 1793.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper