Murderous — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

Murderous (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

1. difficult to endure

   "the murderous heat of the desert"

   similar: bitter, brutal, burdensome, cruel, excruciating, grievous, grim, hard, hardhanded, harsh, heavy, inhuman, onerous, oppressive, rough, rugged, searing, severe, stiff, tough, trying
   related: austere, bleak, comfortless, discomforting, forbidding, inhospitable, spartan, uncomfortable, biting, inclement, intemperate, wild, rigorous, strict, stringent, agonizing, heartbreaking, heartrending, painful, wretched, crushing, grinding, overwhelming, wearing, insufferable, insupportable, intolerable, unbearable, unendurable, harrowing, tortuous, bad, disagreeable, hostile, unfriendly, unpleasant
   opposite: easy, light, soft
   near: comfortable, cozy, luxurious, snug, agreeable, friendly, genial, hospitable, pleasant, peaceful, relaxing, reposeful, restful, bearable, endurable, painless, tolerable, balmy, calm, clement, gentle, mild, moderate, temperate

2. requiring considerable physical or mental effort

   "those exams were murderous"

   similar: arduous, Augean, backbreaking, challenging, demanding, difficult, effortful, exacting, formidable, grueling, hard, heavy, hellacious, herculean, killer, laborious, moiling, pick-and-shovel, rigorous, rough, rugged, severe, stiff, strenuous, sweaty, tall, testing, toilsome, tough, uphill
   related: abstract, abstruse, complex, complicated, elusive, hairy, insoluble, intricate, involved, knotty, opaque, problematic, recondite, serious, spiny, stubborn, thorny, ticklish, tricky, bruising, burdensome, exhausting, labored, onerous, oppressive, stressful, taxing, tight, trying, annoying, bothersome, distressing, irksome, troublesome, vexatious, grievous, grim, strict, stringent, brutal, cruel, inhuman, painful
   opposite: cheap, easy, effortless, facile, light, mindless, simple, soft, undemanding
   near: achievable, clear, doable, elementary, manageable, uncomplicated, comforting, gentle, painless, relaxed, smooth, soothing, accessible, friendly, idiotproof, user-friendly

3. likely to cause or capable of causing death

   "braved murderous machine-gun fire to capture the hill from the enemy"

   similar: baleful, deadly, deathly, fatal, fell, killer, lethal, mortal, pestilent, terminal, vital
   related: baneful, deleterious, destructive, harmful, injurious, noxious, pernicious, truculent, infectious, infective, pestilential, poisonous, sublethal, toxic, virulent, dangerous, grave, grievous, hazardous, jeopardizing, menacing, parlous, perilous, risky, serious, threatening, ugly, unhealthy, unsound, bloody, internecine, sanguinary, sanguine
   opposite: healthful, healthy, nonfatal, nonlethal, wholesome
   near: beneficial, restorative, salubrious, salutary, alleviative, corrective, curative, remedial, tonic, advantageous, useful, nonpoisonous, nontoxic, safe

4. eager for or marked by the shedding of blood, extreme violence, or killing

   "Viking warriors became legendary for the murderous fury they displayed in battle"

   similar: bloodthirsty, bloody, bloody-minded, homicidal, murdering, sanguinary, sanguine, sanguineous
   related: barbaric, barbarous, brutal, cold-blooded, cruel, heartless, inhumane, sadistic, savage, vicious, wanton, antagonistic, ferocious, fierce, gladiatorial, hostile, aggressive, assertive, bellicose, belligerent, combative, contentious, discordant, pugnacious, quarrelsome, scrappy, truculent, violent, merciless, pitiless, ruthless, bloodstained, fell, gory, grim, despiteful, hateful, malevolent, malicious, malign, malignant, mean, nasty, spiteful
   near: appeasing, conciliatory, disarming, dovish, mollifying, pacific, pacifying, peaceable, peaceful, peacemaking, placating, placative, placatory, propitiatory, unaggressive, unassertive, benign, benignant, compassionate, good-hearted, humane, kind, kindhearted, sympathetic, tenderhearted, tender, warm, warmhearted, clement, lenient, merciful, affable, amiable, amicable, benevolent, gentle, kindly, submissive, surrendering, yielding