atrocity
noun /əˈtrɒsəti/
/əˈtrɑːsəti/
[countable, usually plural, uncountable] (plural atrocities)
- a cruel and violent act, especially in a warExtra ExamplesTopics War and conflictc1
- In the war, both sides committed atrocities.
- atrocities against the civilian population
- one of the worst atrocities of the war
- reports of atrocities by gunmen
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- appalling
- terrible
- worst
- …
- be responsible for
- carry out
- commit
- …
- occur
- take place
- stories
- atrocity against
- atrocity by
- accounts of atrocities
- allegations of atrocities
- reports of atrocities
- …
Word Originmid 16th cent. (in the sense ‘cruelty’): from French atrocité or Latin atrocitas, from atrox, atroc- ‘cruel’.