mass murder

American  

[mas mur-der] / ˈmæs ˈmɜr dər /

noun

1. the act of killing a number of people in a single incident or over a short time period, involving more than two victims and typically a large number: The individual motives for mass murder vary greatly.

   He has written about mass murder by totalitarian regimes.

   The individual motives for mass murder vary greatly.

   The article is about five victims of a mass murder.

---

Etymology

Origin of mass murder

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

“Normally, I would agree that diplomacy is better than isolating an adversary,” Dr. Gregory H. Stanton, founding president of Genocide Watch, a group that aims to predict and punish targeted mass murder, told Salon.

From Salon • Jun. 12, 2025

Abdulbasset al Megrahi was jailed for life after being found guilty of mass murder by a Scottish court sitting in the neutral Netherlands.

From BBC • Sep. 12, 2024

“The passion he felt that we should have done more to prevent the Nazi campaign of systematic mass murder has stayed with me my entire life.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 13, 2024

Perhaps the lesson that Kissinger saw in the Holocaust was that mass murder during a geopolitical conflict was, if not quite forgivable, then eminently forgettable by those with the will to do so.

From Slate • Nov. 30, 2023

Thus the students already at risk, already suffering, have become suspects, linked in various thoughtless ways to mass murder and—consequently—more alienated than before.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz

Related Words

• bloodbath
• carnage
• extermination
• genocide
• massacre
• slaughter