Definition

1. Noun:
   • An act of atrocious cruelty: An extremely wicked, brutal, or cruel action, often involving violence and causing great suffering.
   • The quality of being shockingly cruel and inhumane: The characteristic of extreme brutality, savagery, or monstrousness.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Act):
  • The massacre was an unspeakable atrocity.
  • The soldiers were accused of committing atrocities against civilians.
• Noun (Quality):
  • The sheer atrocity of the crime horrified the nation.
  • We must not forget the atrocity of the genocide.

Advanced Usage

• "War atrocity": A specific act of extreme cruelty committed during a war.
  • The tribunal was established to prosecute war atrocities.
• "An atrocity story": A narrative detailing a specific act of extreme cruelty, often used to generate outrage or sympathy.
  • Survivors shared atrocity stories with the international press.

Variants and Related Words

• Atrocious (adj): Extremely wicked, brutal, or cruel; shockingly bad.
  • The prisoners endured atrocious conditions.
• Atrociously (adv): In an atrocious manner.
  • The regime behaved atrociously.

Synonyms

• Barbarity: Savage cruelty or extremely brutal behavior.
• Outrage: An extremely vicious or violent act; a gross violation of law or morality.
• Enormity: The great or extreme scale, seriousness, or extent of something perceived as bad or morally wrong. (Note: Often used to describe the scale of an atrocity).

Related Phrases

• Crime against humanity: A deliberate act, typically as part of a systematic campaign, that causes human suffering or death on a large scale. (This is a specific legal term often associated with atrocities).
• Act of brutality: An act of savage physical violence.

Idioms

• "The final atrocity": Used to describe the last and often worst act in a series of cruel events.
  • The destruction of the hospital was the final atrocity before the ceasefire.

Noun

1. an act of atrocious cruelty
2. the quality of being shockingly cruel and inhumane