ATROCITY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does atrocity mean? 

• ATROCITY (noun)
  The noun ATROCITY has 2 senses:

1. the quality of being shockingly cruel and inhumane

2. an act of atrocious cruelty

  Familiarity information: ATROCITY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ATROCITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The quality of being shockingly cruel and inhumane

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

atrociousness; atrocity; barbarity; barbarousness; heinousness

Hypernyms ("atrocity" is a kind of...):

inhumaneness; inhumanity (the quality of lacking compassion or consideration for others)

Derivation:

atrocious (shockingly brutal or cruel)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An act of atrocious cruelty

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

atrocity; inhumanity

Hypernyms ("atrocity" is a kind of...):

cruelty; inhuman treatment (a cruel act; a deliberate infliction of pain and suffering)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "atrocity"):

barbarism; barbarity; brutality; savagery (a brutal barbarous savage act)

outrage (a wantonly cruel act)

enormity (an act of extreme wickedness)

Derivation:

atrocious (shockingly brutal or cruel)

 Context examples 

Does our education prepare us for such atrocities?

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)