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.
"Everybody thinks we are bloodthirsty and we are going out and killing hundreds of foxes, that is not the case," she added.
From BBC ● May 26, 2026
Ironically, Brooks was sometimes mocked as too moderate by his more bloodthirsty constituents because he opposed premature secession, although he foresaw and supported the eventual breakup of the Union.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026
Taylor ferrets out the secret with her bloodthirsty relentlessness and immediately raises pandemonium.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 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
At any rate, I was pretty sure nobody else realized we were dealing with genuine man-eating bloodthirsty monsters.
From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan
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.
