savagery
Americannoun
plural
savageries-
an uncivilized or barbaric state or condition; barbarity.
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savage action, nature, disposition, or behavior.
noun
-
an uncivilized condition
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a savage act or nature
-
savages collectively
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of savagery
Explanation
Savagery is fierce or brutal violence. The savagery of boxing is just too much for me — I prefer sports like rowing and badminton. When you think of savagery, extreme physical violence probably comes to mind. The savagery of war, brutal crackdowns by totalitarian governments, and vicious attacks are all good examples. There's also a figurative kind of savagery: "The restaurant critic's savagery felt like a personal attack on the chef." Savagery has a Latin source meaning "wild" or "of the woods," from a root that means "forest."
Vocabulary lists containing savagery
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.
Despite Dee’s savagery, Blyth portrays Taylor’s cellmate as loyal and honest — someone who believes in a personal code of conduct.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026
Few if any of even Kim Jong-un’s looniest tirades match these posts for their wild-eyed savagery.
From Slate • Apr. 6, 2026
As Simon Elliott describes in his biography “The African Emperor,” Severus was a mercurial and contradictory character, capable by turns of savagery, cunning, wit and generosity, and always blessed with a sense of the theatrical.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
That savagery had already reared up in social media spaces before the pandemic fertilized it, but knowing it was already present doesn’t lessen the shock of experiencing versions of it in face-to-face interactions.
From Salon • Mar. 26, 2025
And still he stared at her, into her, with a rigidity, a savagery in his look.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
