carnage

[ kahr-nij ]

noun

1. the slaughter of a great number of people, as in battle; butchery; massacre.
2. fighting or other violence:

   brutal carnage on the football field.

3. great damage, utter defeat, or chaos:

   We are charting a way forward after the Election Day carnage.

4. Archaic. dead bodies, as of those slain in battle.

carnage

/ ˈkɑːnɪdʒ /

noun

1. extensive slaughter, esp of human beings in battle

Word History and Origins

Origin of carnage¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Middle French, from Italian carnaggio, from Medieval Latin carnāticum “payment or offering in meat,” equivalent to Latin carn- (stem of carō ) “flesh” + -āticum noun sufffix; -age

Word History and Origins

Origin of carnage¹

C16: from French, from Italian carnaggio, from Medieval Latin carnāticum, from Latin carō flesh

Example Sentences

Despite several gunshot wounds, the three Phommatheps survived the mass shooting, the third in a series of unrelated acts of carnage across the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times

In the three months since she became the nominee, she has shown again and again that there is no daylight between her approach to this horrific carnage and Biden’s, even when prompted again and again by activists, reporters, and American family members of the deceased in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.

From Slate

What's top of mind as she witnesses the carnage of the last year is "a lot of just anger and frustration and sadness because it doesn't have to be this way," Romman said.

From Salon

Osama Siblani, the AAPAC's media director and the publisher of the Arab American News, said that after voting for President Joe Biden in an effort to defeat Trump in 2020, he and other members of his community have felt betrayed as the Biden administration's diplomatic and military backing of Israel has led to carnage in Gaza.

From Salon

Ahmed al Kahlout from the local Civil Defence looked around him at the carnage.

From BBC

Related Words

• bloodshed
• butchery
• crime
• havoc
• killing
• mass murder
• slaughter
• slaying
• warfare