bloodthirsty
Americanadjective
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murderous; cruel
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taking pleasure in bloodshed or violence
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describing or depicting killing and violence; gruesome
a bloodthirsty film
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of bloodthirsty
Explanation
Someone who's bloodthirsty is savage and murderous, or is very quick to resort to violence. A bloodthirsty general might launch one attack after another, eager to kill as many enemy soldiers as possible. A bloodthirsty government is one that enthusiastically wages war with other countries and might even be casual about violently suppressing its own citizens. You can also describe a book or a movie this way, if it's full of gratuitous, gory scenes: "What a bloodthirsty zombie film that was last night." The word has been around since the 16th century, possibly influenced by a word with similar imagery in Greek, haimodipsos.
Vocabulary lists containing bloodthirsty
"The Witches" by Roald Dahl, Chapters 1–5
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Charlotte's Web
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Ralph S. Mouse
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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.
Jack O’Connell, Lola Kirke and Peter Dreimanis — the actors who terrorized the juke joint as bloodthirsty vampires in the movie — also snaked their way onto the stage.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 15, 2026
Startling, not because of the writing—which is often repetitive, tediously autobiographical and awash with anticolonial pieties—but because “Slow Poison” is an apologia for Uganda’s Idi Amin, a bloodthirsty tyrant like few others in modern history.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 15, 2025
That adds extra freight to his reminder that Katrina’s tragedy was entirely manmade — a whirlpool of failed levees, systems and common bloodthirsty inhumanity.
From Salon • Jul. 25, 2025
Immortal, bloodthirsty creatures that feed on humans - they have sharp fangs and a hatred for sunlight and garlic.
From BBC • Oct. 30, 2024
Playfully she added one last, bloodthirsty growl: “Ahbearrrrrrrrr!”
From "The Hidden Gallery" 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.
