femicide
Americannoun
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the act of killing a woman, as by a domestic partner or a member of a criminal enterprise.
The rate of femicide where there is drug trafficking is far greater than it is elsewhere.
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the deliberate, wanton violation and massacre of women and girls, as in a particular ethnic group by an invading army.
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a person who kills a woman.
In certain countries, femicides appear to act with impunity.
Etymology
Origin of femicide
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.
Italy will now join Cyprus, Malta and Croatia as EU member states that have introduced a legal definition of femicide in their criminal codes.
From BBC • Nov. 25, 2025
From now on, Italy will record every murder of a woman that is motivated by her gender as femicide.
From BBC • Nov. 25, 2025
On Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa told the G20 Social Summit that South Africa had "declared gender-based violence and femicide a national crisis" in 2019.
From BBC • Nov. 20, 2025
She acknowledged that her often “desperately sad” project took an emotional toll on her “as it would anyone really” but said she was driven by wanting to “change the narrative” around femicide.
From BBC • Aug. 17, 2024
Among the issues that Mexican women face are femicide, or women killed because of their gender, a gender employment gap and inadequate policies guaranteeing sexual and reproductive rights.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 3, 2024
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.
