atrocity
noun
atroc·i·ty ə-ˈträ-sə-tē 
plural atrocities
1
: a shockingly bad or atrocious act, object, or situation
the atrocities of war
2
: the quality or state of being atrocious
… the paralysing atrocity of the thought which occupied her.
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad
Synonyms
- atrociousness
- awfulness
- dreadfulness
- frightfulness
- ghastliness
- grisliness
- gruesomeness
- hideousness
- horridness
- horror
- monstrosity
- repulsiveness
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Atrocities were committed by forces on both sides of the conflict. Who could be capable of such atrocity?
Recent Examples on the Web Instead, they have been reduced to vulgar terrorism, bombing hospitals and residential buildings in an attempt to use atrocity as a substitute for victory. Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 20 Mar. 2022 Sites that memorialize tragedy and atrocity can be found all over the world, from Phnom Penh to Auschwitz to Rwanda, and these sites are visited by survivors, mourners, and tourists. Annalisa Bolin, Longreads, 28 July 2022 As flowers bloom amid the wreckage, the Kyiv suburb synonymous with atrocity feels almost normal again. New York Times, 18 July 2022 The mythology of its founding is exploded in captivating fashion, as a council member lays out the details of the atrocity against Native Americans in its real origin story. Peter Marks, Washington Post, 26 June 2022 Senator Cornyn has cast the bill as a response to the atrocity in Uvalde, and yet none of its terms seem to intersect with that incident. The Editors, National Review, 23 June 2022 The Soviet Union never fully admitted the extent of the atrocity. Elizabeth Djinis, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 June 2022 The awfulness of what took place in Uvalde must continue to thump around inside the minds of everyone, the unspeakable images of atrocity inflicted upon innocents hurting and haunting anybody, everybody with a heart. Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 1 June 2022 Robert Neimeyer, director of the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, said reopening a site of a mass atrocity can be like walking a tightrope. Aaron Morrison, Anchorage Daily News, 16 July 2022 See More
Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 20 Mar. 2022 Sites that memorialize tragedy and atrocity can be found all over the world, from Phnom Penh to Auschwitz to Rwanda, and these sites are visited by survivors, mourners, and tourists. Annalisa Bolin, Longreads, 28 July 2022 As flowers bloom amid the wreckage, the Kyiv suburb synonymous with atrocity feels almost normal again. New York Times, 18 July 2022 The mythology of its founding is exploded in captivating fashion, as a council member lays out the details of the atrocity against Native Americans in its real origin story. Peter Marks, Washington Post, 26 June 2022 Senator Cornyn has cast the bill as a response to the atrocity in Uvalde, and yet none of its terms seem to intersect with that incident. The Editors, National Review, 23 June 2022 The Soviet Union never fully admitted the extent of the atrocity. Elizabeth Djinis, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 June 2022 The awfulness of what took place in Uvalde must continue to thump around inside the minds of everyone, the unspeakable images of atrocity inflicted upon innocents hurting and haunting anybody, everybody with a heart. Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 1 June 2022 Robert Neimeyer, director of the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, said reopening a site of a mass atrocity can be like walking a tightrope. Aaron Morrison, Anchorage Daily News, 16 July 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
see atrocious
First Known Use
1534, in the meaning defined at sense 2
Kids Definition
atrocity
noun
atroc·i·ty ə-ˈträ-sə-tē
plural atrocities
: an extremely cruel or terrible act, object, or situation
the atrocities of war
atrocity
noun
1
as in horror
the quality of inspiring intense dread or dismay the undeniable atrocity of the forced march of Cherokees known as the Trail of Tears Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- horror
- dreadfulness
- awfulness
- gruesomeness
- frightfulness
- ghastliness
- hideousness
- atrociousness
- grisliness
- horridness
- repulsiveness
- torture
- agony
- heinousness
- badness
- evil
- fearfulness
- vileness
- misery
- sinfulness
- monstrosity
- anguish
- viciousness
- wickedness
- baseness
- evilness
- depravity
- immorality
- invidiousness
- foulness
- loathsomeness
- ghoulishness
- hatefulness
- ungodliness
- despicableness
- iniquity
- hellishness
- torment
- scariness
- ghostliness
- depravedness
- cursedness
- fearsomeness
- creepiness
- diabolicalness
- eeriness
- execrableness
- iniquitousness
- deplorableness
- accursedness
- detestableness
- reprehensibleness
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- attraction
- pleasurableness
- appeal
- pleasantness
- desirableness
- delightfulness
- agreeableness
- desirability
- allurement
- attractiveness
2
as in badness
the state or quality of being utterly evil was appalled by the atrocity of Stalin's mass executions Synonyms & Similar Words
- badness
- sinfulness
- evilness
- heinousness
- vileness
- hideousness
- atrociousness
- corruption
- wickedness
- enormity
- depravity
- monstrosity
- depravedness
- notoriety
- diabolicalness
- fiendishness
- baseness
- immorality
- hellishness
- infamy
- devilishness
- degeneracy
- decadence
- execrableness
- accursedness
- cursedness
- pervertedness
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- morality
- goodness
- righteousness
- purity
- virtuousness
- innocence
- chasteness
3
as in cruelty
disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others wars often unleash a level of atrocity that would be unimaginable in peacetime Synonyms & Similar Words
- cruelty
- brutality
- barbarity
- savagery
- inhumanity
- murderousness
- sadism
- savageness
- heartlessness
- fiendishness
- cruelness
- barbarousness
- viciousness
- inhumanness
- atrociousness
- mercilessness
- ruthlessness
- wantonness
- truculence
- ferocity
- pitilessness
- oppressiveness
- malevolence
- grimness
- bloodthirstiness
- meanness
- ferociousness
- unfeelingness
- bloodlust
- spitefulness
- hatefulness
- maliciousness
- fierceness
- malignity
- sanguinity
- hard-heartedness
- harshness
- despitefulness
- fellness
- sanguineness
- nastiness
- hardhandedness
- cattiness
- heavy-handedness
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- humanity
- sympathy
- compassion
- humaneness
- kindness
- tenderheartedness
- tenderness
- benignity
- warmth
- kindheartedness
- pity
- warmness
- leniency
- good-heartedness
- clemency
- mercy
- charitableness
- warmheartedness
- mercifulness
- sociobiologists
- sociobiology
- sociocentric
- sociocentricity
- sociocentrism
- sociocracy
- sociocrat
- sociocratic
- sociocultural
- socioculturally
- sociodemographic
- sociodynamic
- socioeconomic
- socioeconomically
- socioeconomics
- sociogenesis
- sociogenetic
- sociogenic
- sociogram
- sociograms
- sociographic
- sociography
- sociohistorical
- sociolect
- sociolinguist