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.
Rory Finnin is a professor of Ukrainian studies at the University of Cambridge and the author of “Blood of Others: Stalin’s Crimean Atrocity and the Poetics of Solidarity.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2024
Ballard — who wanted, for example, the reading experience of “The Atrocity Exhibition” to be a kind of archaeology — Barlow wants players to be deeply involved and invested in the act of storytelling.
From Washington Post • Sep. 16, 2022
British attorney Nigel Povoas, lead prosecutor with U.S.-backed Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group, has conducted an initial survey of a residential area of Borodianka where apartment blocks were damaged or destroyed, allegedly by Russian warplanes.
From Reuters • Aug. 30, 2022
But the members of Atrocity Girl decided not to just endure but to do something about it.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 7, 2022
He gave without payment the articles on the Spy, the Atrocity, and the Steam Roller to the New York Tribune.
From Golden Lads by Gleason, Arthur
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.
