mutilate

[ myoot-l-eyt ]

/ ˈmyut lˌeɪt /

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See synonyms for: mutilate / mutilated / mutilation on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), mu·ti·lat·ed, mu·ti·lat·ing.

to injure, disfigure, or make imperfect by removing or irreparably damaging parts: Vandals mutilated the painting.

to deprive (a person or animal) of a limb or other essential part.

OTHER WORDS FOR mutilate

1 damage, mar, cripple.

See synonyms for mutilate on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of mutilate

1525–35; from Latin mutilātus (past participle of mutilāre “to cut off, maim”), equivalent to mutil(us) “maimed, mutilated” + -ātus-ate¹

synonym study for mutilate

2. See maim.

OTHER WORDS FROM mutilate

mu·ti·la·tion, nounmu·ti·la·tive, mu·ti·la·to·ry

[myoot-l-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee], /ˈmyut l əˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i/, adjectivemu·ti·la·tor, nounself-mu·ti·lat·ing, adjective

self-mu·ti·la·tion, nounun·mu·ti·lat·ed, adjectiveun·mu·ti·la·tive, adjective

Words nearby mutilate

mutein, mute swan, mutha, muti, muticous, mutilate, mutineer, mutinous, mutinously, mutiny, mutism

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use mutilate in a sentence

A military defector codenamed “Caesar,” and “Sami,” a relative who assisted him, smuggled thousands of photos out of Syria showing mutilated, tortured, and emaciated corpses strewn across the floors of Syrian government detention centers.
I Helped Bring a Syrian War Criminal to Justice. But the Work Is Just Beginning|Mazen Darwish|February 17, 2022|Time
After the man’s body was recovered, his mutilated left leg probably detached and was placed on his chest when he was buried, the researchers say.
A partial skeleton reveals the world’s oldest known shark attack|Bruce Bower|July 23, 2021|Science News
The thing with translators is that you have to cut off the oratory, mutilate the ideas to give them time to do their work.
Locked up in the Land of Liberty: Part III|Yariel Valdés González|July 21, 2021|Washington Blade
False rumors swirled that Hughes had mutilated Pearl Farlow’s throat and breasts, sending the mob into a murderous rage.
In Texas, a struggle to memorialize a brutal lynching as resistance grows to teaching historical racism|Sydney Trent|June 3, 2021|Washington Post

Their world, like Paul’s, was full of monsters determined to abuse, kidnap and mutilate kids.
Rand Paul’s ignorant questioning of Rachel Levine showed why we need her in government|Monica Hesse|February 26, 2021|Washington Post
Prisoners there became severely depressed: some began to compulsively mutilate themselves; others attempted suicide.
The One Photo a Prisoner Wants to See|Isabel Wilkinson|May 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
With cynical cruelty, he set himself to insult, to undermine, to mutilate it.
The Child of Pleasure|Gabriele D'Annunzio
It would not mutilate and disfigure the body, for it is a sacred temple, to be made beautiful and attractive.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume VII|John Lord
You mutilate my brain with your clumsy pincers—you put your claws into my thoughts and tear them to pieces!
Creditors; Pariah|August Strindberg
Not only does the censorship mutilate literary works, but it often suffocates the inspiration of the author.
Contemporary Russian Novelists|Serge Persky
This dispatch, too, the House of Commons took care to mutilate before sending it to the press.
The Digger Movement in the Days of the Commonwealth|Lewis H. Berens

British Dictionary definitions for mutilate

mutilate

/ (ˈmjuːtɪˌleɪt) /

verb (tr)

to deprive of a limb, essential part, etc; maim; dismember

to mar, expurgate, or damage (a text, book, etc)

Derived forms of mutilate

mutilation, nounmutilative, adjectivemutilator, noun

Word Origin for mutilate

C16: from Latin mutilāre to cut off; related to mutilus maimed

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

mutilate

OTHER WORDS FOR mutilate

Origin of mutilate

synonym study for mutilate

OTHER WORDS FROM mutilate

Words nearby mutilate

Words related to mutilate

How to use mutilate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for mutilate

Derived forms of mutilate

Word Origin for mutilate