cannon fodder
Sacrificial military personnel
Cannon fodder refers to soldiers regarded as expendable—troops sent into battle with little concern for their survival, as if they exist merely to absorb enemy fire.
The term extends to anyone treated as disposable by those in power: The temp workers were just cannon fodder for the company's busy season.
The image is of bodies fed to cannons like fuel.
Able to be sacrificed
- disposableMade for one use
- replaceableAble to be exchanged
- dispensableAble to be sacrificed
- sacrificialGiven as offering
negligible · insignificant · pawns · throwaway · interchangeable · faceless · nameless · anonymous
Ground combat troops
- trenchesElongated ground excavations
- front linesActive battle area
- battalionMid-sized military unit
- platoonSmall infantry formation
conscripts · draftees · recruits · privates · enlisted · grunts · troops · soldiers
Bitter loss of faith
- fatalismDoctrine of inevitable outcomes
- hopelessnessState without hope
- nihilismRejection of objective meaning
- defeatismAcceptance of inevitable failure
bitterness · futility · senselessness · pointlessness · waste · tragedy · indifference · callousness
Suffering for conviction
- victimsThose who suffer harm
- offeringSomething presented or given
- immolationSacrificial killing, often burning
- altarSacred ritual table
scapegoats · blood price · human cost · toll · tribute · fallen · war dead · memorial
expendable
Able to be sacrificed
- disposableMade for one use
- replaceableAble to be exchanged
- dispensableAble to be sacrificed
sacrificial · negligible · insignificant · pawns · throwaway · interchangeable · faceless · nameless · anonymous · dehumanized
infantry
Ground combat troops
- trenchesElongated ground excavations
- front linesActive battle area
- battalionMid-sized military unit
platoon · conscripts · draftees · recruits · privates · enlisted · grunts · troops · soldiers · combat
disillusionment
Bitter loss of faith
- fatalismDoctrine of inevitable outcomes
- hopelessnessState without hope
- nihilismRejection of objective meaning
defeatism · bitterness · futility · senselessness · pointlessness · waste · tragedy · indifference · callousness · meat grinder
martyrdom
Suffering for conviction
- victimsThose who suffer harm
- offeringSomething presented or given
- immolationSacrificial killing, often burning
altar · scapegoats · blood price · human cost · toll · tribute · fallen · war dead · memorial · remembrance
- expendabledisposable, replaceable, dispensable, expendable, redundant
- expendable soldiersexpendables, disposables, fresh meat, warm bodies, redshirts
- underlingsunderling, underlings, subordinate, minions, minion
- recruitsrecruit, new recruit, raw recruit, draftee, conscript
cannon fodderelite forces
Premier military personnel
special forces · elite troops · commandos · Navy SEALs · Green Berets
cannon foddercommanders
Military authority figures
generals · military leadership · brass · top brass · high command
cannon, fodder, cannons, cannonball, cannoned, cannonade, cannoning, cannoneer, cannoneers