murderous
/ˈməːd(ə)rəs
/adjective
1Capable of or intending to murder; dangerously violent: a brutal and murderous despot figurative Mark gave him a murderous look...
- Still, the doctor is not convinced, but he does offer his story of a murderous ventriloquist whose dummy seemed more alive, and violent, than he was.
- He was capable of murderous cruelty when angered.
- As a high-ranking servant of a murderous despot, he lied often.
Synonyms
homicidal, brutal, violent, savage, ferocious, fierce, vicious, bloodthirsty, barbarous, barbaric, cruel, inhuman;
fatal, lethal, deadly, mortal, killing, death-dealing, bloody
literary fell
archaic sanguinary
1.1(Of an action, event, or plan) involving murder or extreme violence: murderous acts of terrorism...
- Determined to avenge her, Marv pursues a violent, murderous course that takes him to the heart of the city's power structure, and seals his fate.
- The boy and his accomplices failed in their murderous conspiracy.
- If I ever snap and go on a murderous killing spree, it'll be because of this guy.
2 informal Extremely arduous or unpleasant: the team had a murderous schedule of four games in ten days...
- After that the schedule turns murderous starting with back-to-back home games with New England and Philadelphia to complete the first half.
- Expect the Sonics and Clippers to take a step back amid murderous January schedules.
- The sun's rays were murderous; of course no one around me noticed, they were all so wrapped up in the game.
Synonyms
arduous, gruelling, strenuous, punishing, onerous, back-breaking, crushing, exhausting, taxing, difficult, hard, laborious, rigorous, stressful, formidable, intolerable, unbearable, harrowing
informal killing, hellish
British informal knackering
Derivatives
murderously
/ adverb ...- I guess he must have had to work murderously hard at it during some stage in his life, but his gifts are so obvious and are worn so lightly and are so integrated with his persona that saying he is a ‘natural’ is a ridiculous understatement.
- It was murderously cold outside, and if you felt the need to be around your fellow humans nothing beats the mall; you can be together without sharing anything except your location.
- The murderously obscene verse that he occasionally turned on his rivals and enemies matched the aggression and violence of the time, but it also sprang from the same tormented and inspired source as his own helpless love.
murderousness
/ noun ...- Their murderousness is neither greater nor less than that of the invaders with their napalm, machine-guns and high explosives.
- Is that because you wouldn't play a character with his attributes - repressed rage, class envy, murderousness, homoeroticism, extraordinary sensitivity, aching beauty - ever again?
- Our coarseness - our murderousness - as a nation and a culture should inform the way we think about who leads us.