adjective
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intending, capable of, or guilty of murder
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informal very dangerous, difficult, or unpleasant
a murderous road
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of murderous
Explanation
A person who's murderous is cruel and violent enough to kill someone. If you are experiencing a murderous rage, it's best to stay inside and away from the public. A murderer, someone who kills deliberately, can be described as murderous. You can also use this adjective in an exaggerated way, simply to emphasize how mad someone is, like when you describe your brother's murderous expression when he realizes you've eaten the last of his Halloween candy. Murderous comes from murder, which in turn has its roots in the Old English morðor, "unlawful killing."
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.
The bee team fighting a murderous hornet invasion.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, the tale of silent film star Norma Desmond’s descent into murderous derangement as her Hollywood comeback stays out of frame, is the other.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
And when I found out she was gonna be in the episode where she plays a nun, a murderous nun, I just thought, “I’m not gonna be able to contain myself.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
Running from murderous in-laws is nothing compared to the threat at the heart of “Something Very Bad is Going to Happen,” which depicts exchanging vows with a presumed soul mate as gambling with a curse.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2026
The music and the dancing became mournful as a succession of funereal dances conveyed the murderous Reign of Terror.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
