massacre
Americannoun
-
massacres
plural
-
the unnecessary, indiscriminate killing of a large number of human beings or animals, as in barbarous warfare or persecution or for revenge or plunder.
- Synonyms:
- genocide, butchery, extermination, carnage
-
a general slaughter, as of persons or animals.
the massacre of millions during the war.
- Synonyms:
- genocide, butchery, extermination, carnage
-
Informal. a crushing defeat, especially in sports.
verb (used with object)
-
massacres,
present (3rd person singular)
-
massacred,
past participle, past
-
massacring
present participle
-
to kill unnecessarily and indiscriminately, especially a large number of persons.
- Synonyms:
- slay
-
Informal. to defeat decisively, especially in sports.
noun
-
the wanton or savage killing of large numbers of people, as in battle
-
informal an overwhelming defeat, as in a game
verb
-
to kill indiscriminately or in large numbers
-
informal to defeat overwhelmingly
Usage
What does massacre mean? A massacre is a large-scale killing of people or animals, especially defenseless ones. The word implies that such a killing was especially unnecessary, brutal, and indiscriminate. An event in which soldiers kill many civilians could be called a massacre. Mass shootings are massacres. Massacre can also be used in a more general way to refer to killing on a large-scale, as in This war will result in the massacre of millions. Massacre can also be used as a verb in both of these senses, as in The flock was massacred by the pack of wolves. Massacre is also used figuratively as a noun and a verb in the context of a decisive defeat, especially a one-sided sporting event, as in It was a massacre—we lost 12-0. Example: Every day, the news tells us of yet another massacre of innocent people by a person with a gun.
Synonym Usage
See slaughter.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
massacresimple
-
massacressimple
-
have massacredperfect
-
has massacredperfect
-
am massacringprogressive
-
are massacringprogressive
-
is massacringprogressive
-
have been massacringperfect progressive
-
has been massacringperfect progressive
Past
-
massacredsimple
-
had massacredperfect
-
was massacringprogressive
-
were massacringprogressive
-
had been massacringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of massacre
First recorded in 1575–85; (noun), from Middle French massacre, noun derivative of massacrer, Old French maçacrer, macecler, probably from unattested Vulgar Latin matteūcculāre, verbal derivative of unattested matteūca “mallet” ( see mashie, mace 1); (verb) from Middle French massacrer
Explanation
A massacre is a big bloody mess of killing, and usually for no good reason. Not that there’s ever a good reason for killing, but massacres are especially pointless and gory. It’s unclear where the word massacre came from, but possibly it was the Old French word macacre, which means “slaughterhouse.” As a noun, massacre is a brutal slaughter of humans or animals, and it can be a verb as well, like when an army massacres an entire village of innocent people. Pronounce it like MASS-uh-ker, and remember to spell it with an acre at the end, which is how much land is needed to bury the bodies after a massacre.
Vocabulary lists containing massacre
This Week in Words: November 4 - 10, 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.
See Examples For:
"For us, the main thing is that he was convicted and that he was serving his sentence," said Abdurahmanovic, whose brother went missing during the massacre and has never been found.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
Intricate sculptural groups depict the Annunciation, the birth of Jesus, the Adoration of the Magi and the shepherds, Herod’s massacre of the innocents, the flight into Egypt, Jesus preaching at the temple, and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Damon’s Odysseus is numbed by the massacre of Troy’s civilians; Fiennes’ hates himself for leading the best men of Ithaca to their death, gutting his own community in the heedless destruction of another.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Tusk was speaking on the anniversary of what Poland calls the "massacre" in Volyn, the then German-occupied part of Poland, now in Ukraine.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
And my family had never talked about the massacre, even among ourselves.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
Its leaders rejected emigration to Palestine and, after the pogroms and massacres that accompanied Russia’s collapse, went into exile or were crushed by the Soviets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
According to the UN, around 115,000 people have entered Lebanon from Syria since the fall of Assad, many of them since the sectarian massacres that targeted the Alawite minority on the Syrian coast in March.
From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026
No one really believes Mr. Museveni is a Good Guy, however much he may have opened up Uganda to—gasp!—“international capital,” a worse sin, in Mr. Mamdani’s eyes, than any of the massacres Amin committed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2025
But a woman who survived one of the massacres has appeared on Algerian television, alleging that the book’s heroine – named Fajr – is based on her own personal story.
From BBC ● Nov. 21, 2024
So Richard began to write a long article about the massacres.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The tension on “The French Chef” was about a massacred bûche de noël or whether that roast-chicken-to-come was being abused.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
During a session on Iran's record, Bahreini urged the UN's top rights body to instead discuss the Iranian cultural heritage under "indiscriminate" attack and "the innocent children massacred at their school desks".
From Barron's ● Mar. 16, 2026
And then there’s bird flu, which isn’t just infecting dairy cows and poultry lately, but has also massacred millions of wild birds.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2024
Richard said: "To get even one goal was a surprise, that was a delight. I think I will wake up in a minute and we will be getting massacred 7-0."
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2024
There was a battle at Bunker Hill where the Patriots massacred the British troops before they were driven off, and the Rebels also took Fort Ticonderoga without much of a fight.
From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
The Sri Lankan army spokesman, Brigadier Waruna Gamage rejects allegations that security forces buried civilians after massacring them.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
But our current situation — the one that is becoming increasingly harder to ignore — really began about three years ago, when bird flu began spreading rapidly in wild birds, massacring millions of them.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2024
From Carrie massacring a whole prom with telekinesis to Sabrina Spellman’s Big Witch Energy, we must both respect teen emotions and fear them at the same time.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 22, 2020
She made it sound as if they were massacring endangered baby eagles.
From Slate ● Feb. 16, 2019
The Clonmacnoise Manifesto, inviting the Irish "not to be deceived with any show of clemency exercised upon them hitherto," hardly supports the diatribes against Cromwell's "massacring" propensities.
From The World's Greatest Books — Volume 09 — Lives and Letters by Arthur Mee
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