as in brutal
having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others
the troubled youth is being treated by a psychotherapist for his sadistic urges to hurt animals
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Recent Examples of sadistic
Real fans, however, know that Grey’s Anatomy is actually an emotional torture device overseen by the brilliant and sadistic Shonda Rhimes, an agonizing exercise in grief and loss delivered in weekly installments.
—
Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 27 Mar. 2025
Judge Barrett’s cruel, sadistic, and partisan sentence also has deprived Peters of the ability to see her 95-year-old mother.
—Mike Davis, The Denver Post, 19 Mar. 2025
That is until sadistic Shauna and her sidekick Melissa arrive.
—Erin Qualey, Vulture, 7 Mar. 2025
The Rule of Jenny Pen stars Lithgow as Dave Crealy, a seemingly gentle man who secretly terrorizes the residents with a sadistic game involving the titular dementia doll.
—Simon Thompson, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sadistic
Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 27 Mar. 2025
Judge Barrett’s cruel, sadistic, and partisan sentence also has deprived Peters of the ability to see her 95-year-old mother.
—Mike Davis, The Denver Post, 19 Mar. 2025
That is until sadistic Shauna and her sidekick Melissa arrive.
—Erin Qualey, Vulture, 7 Mar. 2025
The Rule of Jenny Pen stars Lithgow as Dave Crealy, a seemingly gentle man who secretly terrorizes the residents with a sadistic game involving the titular dementia doll.
—Simon Thompson, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sadistic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sadistic
Adjective
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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway fared better than the S & P 500 in a brutal week as investors embraced the safety of a cash-rich conglomerate while President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs wreaked havoc on Wall Street.—
Yun Li,
CNBC,
6 Apr. 2025
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With six games remaining in the regular season — and five of them coming in a brutal seven-day span — the Knicks are suddenly getting healthy at a time when workload management becomes a daily dilemma.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
5 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Everybody else has no choice, really, other than to bring a cruel, narcissistic far-right leader to power.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2025
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Jokes that didn’t land with the squad The kids in Bad Influence say the pranks were the most cruel.—
Olivia B. Waxman,
Time,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Softened by pride, Amber slinks away herself, albeit much more cutely than Gregory and accompanied by a vicious side-eye.—
Ile-Ife Okantah,
Vulture,
3 Apr. 2025
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Mikal, Tonya and Jason are vicious, screaming and hurling vile truths at one another.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
30 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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As savage Arctic cold was getting ready to surge south across North America, vivid imagery based on data from weather models showed us what was going to happen.—
Tom Yulsman,
Discover Magazine,
27 Dec. 2022
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The 2023 grand marshal is former Arizona Democratic congresswoman Gabby Giffords, gravely wounded in a savage mass shooting in 2011 that also killed six people.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Dec. 2022
Adjective
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But when the ruthless Mafia boss Nicola Grimaldi discovers his young son has been kidnapped and murdered, the suspect and Grimaldi’s former friend Vito seeks refuge with police.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
9 Apr. 2025
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The way to move up in your organization might require being ruthless.—
Roberta Matuson,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sadistic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sadistic. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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