barbarous
3
8.5
- adjective
- /ˈbɑːrbərəs/
:
atroz
- It's been proven that as the penalties are less barbarous... the crimes are less frequent.
- cruel and barbarous
- barbarous act
No one is threatening Russia yet as we meet here this evening in Ukraine, barbarous weapons are being used to kill and maim people.
- No one is threatening Russia yet as we meet here this evening in Ukraine, barbarous weapons are being used to kill and maim people.
- One side is barbarous and horrible and bloodthirsty and wants to eliminate a race of people and the other wants to live in peace.
Examples
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Or is it that you think we are something you can play with, because we are a little people, a silly people, greedy, barbarous and cruel?
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A barbarous man would have killed them al...
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And you are not a barbarous man.
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I am not a barbarous man.
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But a land whose laws sanction, not control the barbarous among its citizens, that is a country whose hope is lost.
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You ungrateful, perjurious, barbarous man.
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This police force has committed a series of barbarous acts... ...executions, which is to say: assassinations.
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The government of India and Nagaland should take a bold step to stop such barbarous killings of innocent birds.
Blog text (8) -
Cruel, barbarous Sylla abdicated and died beloved, he says; generous Caesar chose to rule and died by an assassin's hand.
Academic text (1990) -
The dictator ordered barbarous punishments for anyone who opposed him.
Synonyms
522
2.7
Willing to cause pain or suffering to others
229
4.8
Very cruel and violent, causing pain or suffering
222
5.2
Deliberately cruel and likely to hurt someone
61
6.3
Extremely cruel and violent with no respect for people
27
4.5
Very fierce and violent and often cruel
12
7.6
Very cruel and shocking, causing great pain and fear
1
8.9
Acting in a harsh way that ignores other people's feelings
Very cruel and violent, causing many deaths
Cruel and likely to cause great harm
Being very cruel and violent, like someone who eats people
Antonyms
How Cruel
Surface Forms
Morphology
barbarous = barbarian (transparent) = barbar + ous
The adjective arises from 'barbar-' (uncivilized/cruel) combined with '-ous'; the sense 'cruel, brutal' is a direct extension of 'uncivilized' and is inferable from the base.
Etymology
Barbarous comes from the same old Greek barbaros and the English word barbarian, which began as 'someone foreign' and later came to mean 'savage'. So barbarous also describes actions or people that are extremely cruel or brutal.