massacre
noun
the unnecessary, indiscriminate killing of a large number of human beings or animals, as in barbarous warfare or persecution or for revenge or plunder.
massacres
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pluralof massacre.plural
The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
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present tense formof massacre (3rd person singular).present tense
Used to describe things happening now or regularly.
massacrenounthe unnecessary, indiscriminate killing of a large number of human beings or animals, as in barbarous warfare or persecution or for revenge or plunder.
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.
European officials and their counterparts in both Poland and Ukraine warn that the rift over the World War II massacres serves neither side.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
“There were massacres against Indigenous communities, they were forced to have one religion,” Sheinbaum said last week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 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
The man in the tub is the French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat, a journalist and physician who had incited a series of judicial massacres.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025
I have told my sons that they are not under any circumstances to take part in massacres, and that the news of massacres of enemies is not to fill them with satisfaction or glee.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
