Murderous Meaning
/ˈmɜːdəɹəs/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf, characterized by, or pertaining to murder or murderers.
adjOf a person: intending or likely to commit murder; bloodthirsty, homicidal.
Sentence Examples
This only increased his desire to be revenged on the murderous duke.
His murderous gaze frightened her.
Nothing can stop Fadil from executing his murderous plan.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The villain had a ____ expression as he aimed the gun at the sleeping victim.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The witness described the attacker as having a ____ look in his eyes just before he pulled out a long, sharp knife from his jacket.
Word Origin & History
From murder + -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns denoting possession or presence of a quality).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Aſſaſſinat: m. A murther, or murtherous act committed for gaine, or in hope of a revvard; alſo, a ſuddaine aſſault, made of ſet purpoſe, and vvith a murtherous intent, although th' aſſaulted be not killed."
— 1611, Randle Cotgrave, compiler, “Assassinat”, in A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, signature G, recto, column 2:
"Every time I heard the bell strike, that denotes the time on board a ship, I full of terror counted the hours until four o'clock; feeling sure that when that hour came, my enemies would begin their murderous attack."
— 1878 October, “A Tussle with Yellow Jack”, in G[eorge] Bampfield, editor, S. Andrew’s Magazine, volume I, number 10, London: Burns & Oates, […], →OCLC, page 1:
"While Harley had been in no way responsible for Pelton's murderous attack upon Yesler, public opinion held him to account."
— 1909, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 18, in Ridgway of Montana:
"[O]ne minute this "Jihadi John" was struggling to get by, and get accepted, in drizzly England, unemployed with a mortgage to pay and a chip on his shoulder, and the next he stands in brilliant Levantine sunlight, where everything is clear and etched, at the vanguard of some Sunni Risorgimento intent on subjecting the world to its murderous brand of Wahhabi Islam."
— 2014 November 17, Roger Cohen, “The horror! The horror! The trauma of ISIS [print version: International New York Times, 18 November 2014, page 9]”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 Aug 2017:
"Is any man loth to leave his priſon? or to remove his dwelling from cruel enemies? or to ſcape the hands of murderous robbers? Do we take the world indeed for our priſon? our cruel, ſpoyling, murderous foe? and yet we are loth to leave it?"
— 1659, Richard Baxter, “Reproving Our Unwillingness to Die”, in The Saints Everlasting Rest: Or, A Treatise of the Blessed State of the Saints in Their Enjoyment of God in Glory. […], 8th edition, London: […] Thomas Underhill and Francis Tyton, […], →OCLC, part IV, section V, page 603:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The villain had a ____ expression as he aimed the gun at the sleeping victim.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The witness described the attacker as having a ____ look in his eyes just before he pulled out a long, sharp knife from his jacket.