brutalities
Acts of cruelty
Brutalities is the plural of brutality—acts of savage cruelty or violence: The report documented brutalities committed against prisoners.
The word often appears in contexts of war, oppression, or abuse of power, where multiple instances of cruel treatment accumulate: survivors testified about the brutalities they witnessed.
Extremely cruel acts
- crueltiesHarsh, harmful acts
- savageryExtreme, violent cruelty
- tortureDeliberate infliction of suffering
- beatingsStrikes delivered repeatedly
massacres · killings · mutilations · assaults · bloodshed · carnage · slaughter · barbarism
Unjust exercise of power
- persecutionSystematic mistreatment of groups
- slaveryOwnership of people
- colonialismDomination through foreign settlement
- apartheidRacial separation policy
segregation · exploitation · subjugation · dehumanization · repression · tyranny · forced labor · lynchings
Illegal acts during conflict
- ethnic cleansingSystematic removal of populations
- genocideSystematic annihilation of a people
- bombingsExplosive attacks from above
- siegesProlonged military blockades
occupations · invasions · prisoner abuse · civilian casualties · scorched earth · pillaging · Abu Ghraib · internment
Unsparing quality or manner
- callousnessCruel emotional indifference
- crueltyDeliberate harm-causing disposition
- coldnessLow temperature state
- mercilessnessAbsence of compassion or clemency
heartlessness · pitilessness · unfeelingness · relentlessness · severity · unkindness · verbal abuse · psychological torment
Formal, probing examination
- corporal punishmentInflicting pain as penalty
- forced confessionsStatements extracted through pressure
- waterboardingControlled asphyxiation interrogation technique
- solitary confinementIsolated imprisonment in cell
shackling · strip searches · nightstick · baton · excessive force
atrocities
Extremely cruel acts
- crueltiesHarsh, harmful acts
- savageryExtreme, violent cruelty
- tortureDeliberate infliction of suffering
beatings · massacres · killings · mutilations · assaults · bloodshed · carnage · slaughter · barbarism · inhumanity
oppression
Unjust exercise of power
- persecutionSystematic mistreatment of groups
- slaveryOwnership of people
- colonialismDomination through foreign settlement
apartheid · segregation · exploitation · subjugation · dehumanization · repression · tyranny · forced labor · lynchings · pogroms
war crimes
Illegal acts during conflict
- ethnic cleansingSystematic removal of populations
- genocideSystematic annihilation of a people
- bombingsExplosive attacks from above
sieges · occupations · invasions · prisoner abuse · civilian casualties · scorched earth · pillaging · Abu Ghraib · internment · concentration camps
harshness
Unsparing quality or manner
- callousnessCruel emotional indifference
- crueltyDeliberate harm-causing disposition
- coldnessLow temperature state
mercilessness · heartlessness · pitilessness · unfeelingness · relentlessness · severity · unkindness · verbal abuse · psychological torment · humiliation
interrogation
Formal, probing examination
- corporal punishmentInflicting pain as penalty
- forced confessionsStatements extracted through pressure
- waterboardingControlled asphyxiation interrogation technique
solitary confinement · shackling · strip searches · nightstick · baton · excessive force
- game secretscheat codes, unlockables, hidden items, secret rooms, hidden areas
brutalitieskindnesses
Benevolent acts toward others
gentleness · compassion · mercies · benevolence · clemency
brutalitieshumanitarianism
Promoting welfare through compassion
decencies · humane treatment · benevolences · charities · good deeds
brutal, brute, brutality, brutish, brutalize, brutes, brutalized, brutalizing, brutalism