Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Characterized by or involving bloodshed and violence: Describes actions, events, or people that are exceptionally bloody, violent, and cruel.
   • Eager for or marked by bloodshed: Describes a bloodthirsty, murderous, or savage disposition.

Usage and Examples

• Adjective:
  • The battle was one of the most sanguinary conflicts in the nation's history. (This describes a battle that involved massive bloodshed.)
  • The dictator was known for his sanguinary rule, suppressing all opposition with brutal force. (This describes a ruler whose methods are characterized by violence and killing.)
  • The novel depicts the sanguinary details of the ancient gladiatorial games. (This describes details that are gory and bloody.)

Advanced Usage

• Literary/Formal Context: "Sanguinary" is primarily used in formal, historical, or literary contexts to emphasize extreme violence and bloodshed. It is stronger and more specific than simply "violent."
  • The chronicles recorded the sanguinary feuds between the two noble houses.
• Attributive Use: It is often used directly before a noun to modify it.
  • a sanguinary struggle, a sanguinary tyrant, sanguinary vengeance

Variants and Related Words

• Sanguine (adj): While historically related to blood, in modern English this primarily means "optimistic" or "cheerful." It is a false friend; do not confuse it with "sanguinary."
• Sanguineness (n): The quality of being sanguine (optimistic).

Synonyms

• Bloodthirsty: Having or showing a desire to kill and cause violence.
• Gory: Involving or showing violence and bloodshed.
• Murderous: Capable of or intending to murder; violently destructive.
• Bloody: Involving or characterized by bloodshed. (Note: "Bloody" is more common and general; "sanguinary" is more intense and formal.)
• Butcherly: Resembling or characteristic of a butcher; savage and bloody.

Antonyms

• Peaceful: Free from disturbance; tranquil.
• Pacifistic: Opposed to war or violence.
• Humane: Having or showing compassion or benevolence.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• Sanguinary struggle/war: A standard collocation describing an exceptionally bloody conflict.
  • The century was marked by a series of sanguinary wars over territory.
• Sanguinary disposition/temper: A phrase describing a person's naturally bloodthirsty character.
  • The pirate captain was feared for his sanguinary disposition.

Adjective

1. marked by eagerness to resort to violence and bloodshed
   • bloody-minded tyrants
   • bloodthirsty yells
   • went after the collaborators with a sanguinary fury that drenched the land with blood-G.W.Johnson
2. accompanied by bloodshed
   • this bitter and sanguinary war