atrocity

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   An extremely cruel or violent act, especially one committed against many people.

   Grammar: Countable: one act is an atrocity; many acts are atrocities.

   Patterns

   • commit an atrocity
   • atrocities against someone
   • war atrocities

   The museum documents the atrocities committed during the war.

   The world was shocked by the atrocity.

   Reports of atrocities against civilians led to international action.

2. 2noununcountableformal

   The quality of being shockingly cruel or wicked.

   Grammar: Uncountable: used to talk about the nature or extent of cruelty in general.

   Patterns

   • the atrocity of something

   The atrocity of the crime left the community in fear.

   He could not comprehend the atrocity of such violence.

Word forms

Common combinations

commit an atrocity

The soldiers were accused of committing atrocities.

war atrocities

The film depicts the war atrocities suffered by civilians.

atrocities against civilians

The report detailed atrocities against civilians.

human rights atrocity

The massacre was condemned as a human rights atrocity.

Synonyms and how they differ

outrage

Outrage can mean a very cruel act, but it also often refers to the angry reaction it causes; atrocity focuses on the act itself.

horror

Horror can mean a strong feeling of fear or shock, or a very unpleasant event; atrocity is more specific to extreme cruelty.

Opposites

Word family

atrocious adjective

Extremely bad or cruel; often used informally for very poor quality.

atrocity noun

The act itself; the plural is atrocities.

Commonly confused: atrocity or atrophy?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “atrocity”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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