Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Capable of, guilty of, or intending murder: a group of murderous thugs.
- adj. Characteristic of or giving rise to murder or bloodshed: murderous mistrust.
- adj. Informal Capable of devastating or overwhelming: a murderous exam.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Of the nature of murder; pertaining to or involved in murder: as, a murderous act.
- Guilty of murder; delighting in murder.
- Characterized by murder or bloody cruelty.
- Very brutal, cruel, or destructive. Synonyms San-guinary, bloodthirsty, blood guilty, fell, savage.
Wiktionary
- adj. Intending, or likely to commit murder; bloodthirsty or homicidal.
- adj. Very difficult.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Of or pertaining to murder; characterized by, or causing, murder or bloodshed; having the purpose or quality of murder; bloody; sanguinary.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. characteristic of or capable of or having a tendency toward killing another human being
Examples
“He pushed away from the curricle, his expression murderous.”
“In April the BDK's spiritual leader Ne Muanda Nsemi said followers were being hunted down in what he called a murderous crackdown by the authorities.”
“Readers responding to our Dec. 12 cover story expressed outrage at what they called the murderous acts of female suicide bombers.”
“And today, the U.S. national security adviser said much of it is due to what he calls murderous death squads and armed gangs.”
“But what will be an interesting reaction is to see whether people in the Middle East, particularly in the Islamic world, have taken comfort from President Bush's strong appeal to mainstream Muslims, saying that the United States respects the Islamic faith, make a clear distinction between proper religious observation and what he called murderous fanaticism.”
“He accused the National Party of promoting racial hatred in its campaign to retain power and of using state funds to finance what he called the murderous activities of the Zulu-based Inkatha Freedom Party, which is boycotting the polls.”
“Any resistance by what he called the "murderous Indian tribes in the West" would not be tolerated.”
“But let's pause for a moment and consider who else might bring a certain murderous dignity to the part.”
The Washington Post: Abraham Lincoln: Which actor should play him, in vampire-hunter form?
“I guess selfish rather than murderous is the way to go.”
Think Progress » REPORT: A Closer Look At Consumer Protections In Dodd’s Financial Reform Bill
“Bauer, incidentally, is married to former White House communications director Anita Dunn, who caused controversy in June 2009 when she called a murderous totalitarian communist, Mao Tse Tung, one of her “favorite political philosophers.””
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