atrocityn.
/əˈtrɒsɪti/ 1. Savage enormity, horrible or heinous wickedness.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > heinousness > [noun]
monstruosity1402
grievoustyc1410
outrageousnessc1450
enormityc1480
atrocity1534
malignitya1535
monstruousness1545
heinousness1563
monstrousness1574
ugliness1601
enormousnessa1631
monstrosity1639
enormance1682
flagrancy1714
atrociousness1731
society > morality > moral evil > wickedness > [noun] > extreme wickedness
villainy?c1225
cursedhead1382
cursednessa1400
grievoustyc1410
enormityc1480
atrocity1534
malignitya1535
heinousness1563
enormousnessa1631
enormance1682
flagitiousness1692
flagrancy1714
atrociousness1731
outrageousness1869
1534 T. More Treat. Passion in Wks. 1294/2 For the atrocyte of the story..almost euerye childe hathe heard.
a1674 Earl of Clarendon Hist. Rebellion (1705) I. i. iv. 412 They further desired that Justice might be done upon Offenders, according as the Atrocity of their Crimes had deserved.
1863 S. R. Gardiner Hist. Eng. I. 253 If the atrocity of their design was hidden from their eyes.
2. Fierceness, sternness, implacability. archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > absence of emotion > [noun] > callousness or hard-heartedness
induration1493
indurateness1537
induritness1558
hardenedness1571
stoniness1571
hard-heartedness1577
apathy1603
indolence1603
dedolence1606
flintiness1607
dedolencya1617
searedness1620
callosity1628
indolencya1631
brawnedness1631
calluma1640
atrocity1641
dead-heartedness1642
brawninessa1645
callousness1653
stony-heartedness1673
petrification1678
unsolicitousnessa1683
callus1683
heartlessness1701
petrifaction1722
unreckingness1873
Gradgrindery1920
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > harshness or severity > [noun]
rethenesseOE
grimness971
sternhead1297
sharpnessa1325
reddoura1375
sternness1382
fiercenessc1384
sturdinessc1384
duressc1400
fellnessc1410
austeritya1425
harshnessc1480
roughness1530
severity1530
durity1543
ungentleness1548
severeness1579
ruggedness1638
atrocity1641
austereness1646
piquancya1677
Draconianism1819
astringency1823
Draconism1832
starkness1884
1641 Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia sig. A3 The atrocitie of the Fathers nature.
1865 S. Baring-Gould Bk. Were-wolves v. 54 They besiege it with atrocity, striving to break in the doors.
3. An atrocious deed; an act of extreme cruelty and heinousness.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > heinousness > [noun] > deed or action
excessc1386
atrocity1793
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > ill-treatment > cruelty > [noun] > act or instance of
savagerya1616
atrocity1793
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > evildoing or wrongdoing > [noun] > an evil deed > an evil deed, fault, or offence > grievous or heinous
atrocity1793
1793 T. Jefferson Let. 30 June in Papers (1995) XXVI. 409 To defend themselves from the atrocities of a vastly more numerous and powerful people.
1880 J. McCarthy Hist. our Own Times The deeds which have ever since been known as ‘the Bulgarian atrocities.’
1915 Sphere 22 May 197 The British report on German atrocities in Belgium.
1918 W. Owen Let. 25 Oct. (1967) 589 I have found in all these villages no evidence of German atrocities. The girls here were treated with perfect respect.
4. colloquial with no moral reference: A very bad blunder, violation of taste or good manners, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > an error, mistake > [noun] > serious error, blunder
blunder1706
blunderbuss1726
floor1841
bull1846
howler1872
atrocity1878
break1884
bloomer1889
boner1912
bish1937
black1939
blue1941
cock-up1946
piss-up1950
screw-up1950
blob1952
1878 E. M. Thompson Corr. Family of Hatton (1878) I. Pref. 4 Their diction and their spelling, and the fearful atrocities committed in the latter.
Compounds
attributive and in other combinations, as atrocity-monger (so atrocity-mongering n. and adj.), atrocity propaganda, atrocity story.
ΚΠ
1896 Westm. Gaz. 18 Feb. 1/2 The massacres were a tale, either grossly exaggerated or altogether invented by atrocity-mongering journals.
1897 Westm. Gaz. 28 Aug. 2/3 We should be very cautious about accepting these atrocity stories.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 18 Oct. 3/3 In the words of General Colley, is not all this atrocity-mongering calculated to ‘make our soldiers either cowards or butchers’?
1905 A. Bennett Tales of Five Towns i. 94 You see roundabouts, swings,..atrocity booths, quack dentists.
1914 E. A. Powell Fighting in Flanders v. 129 Let them hear our side of this atrocity business.
1930 G. B. Shaw What I really wrote about War p. ix The atrocity mongers who are using Belgium as a stick to beat Germany.
1937 A. Koestler Spanish Test. iv. 84 We know how much harm the preposterous atrocity propaganda engaged in by both sides caused during the Great War.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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