atrocity
atrocity Lexical Profile
atrocity Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An extremely wicked, brutal, or cruel act, typically one involving physical violence or severe human suffering.
"The international tribunal was established to investigate every atrocity committed against civilians during the conflict."
The quality or state of being extremely cruel, shocking, or wicked.
"Historians were stunned by the sheer atrocity of the regime's policies toward political dissidents."
Something that is shockingly bad, ugly, or tasteless (used informally as hyperbole).
"Critics called the garish new concrete office block an architectural atrocity that ruined the historic skyline."
• Rhymes for atrocity
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the mid-16th century from Middle French atrocité, from Latin atrocitas ('fierceness, harshness, cruelty'), derived from atrox ('fierce, savage, gloomy'), which is related to ater ('black, dark').