Library / English Dictionary

MURDEROUS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Characteristic of or capable of or having a tendency toward killing another human being

Example:

murderous thugs

Synonyms:

homicidal; murderous

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

bloody (having or covered with or accompanied by blood)

Derivation:

murder (unlawful premeditated killing of a human being by a human being)

murderousness (cruelty evidence by a capability to commit murder)

murderousness (a bloodthirsty hatred arousing murderous impulses)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish, he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing smile, he had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, and he spoke with a husky, whispering and somewhat broken voice; all these were points against him, but not all of these together could explain the hitherto unknown disgust, loathing and fear with which Mr. Utterson regarded him.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“You do not think,” asked Phelps, “that he had any murderous intention? The knife was only meant as a tool.”

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I thought of Sir Lothian’s murderous repute as a duellist, and I trembled for my uncle.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Or, again, there was that most grotesque affair of the five orange pips, which led straight to a murderous conspiracy.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I gasped for breath, and throwing myself on the body, I exclaimed, Have my murderous machinations deprived you also, my dearest Henry, of life?

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

What! a murderous attack?

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Both Summerlee and Challenger were limping heavily, while I still dragged my feet from weakness after the shock of the morning, and my neck was as stiff as a board from the murderous grip that held it.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

At this the negro took heart of grace, and picking up his dagger again he came stealing with prowling step and murderous eye, while the two swayed backwards and forwards, staggering this way and that.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

An examination of his room revealed that the bed had not been slept in, that a safe which stood in it was open, that a number of important papers were scattered about the room, and finally, that there were signs of a murderous struggle, slight traces of blood being found within the room, and an oaken walking-stick, which also showed stains of blood upon the handle.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There cannot be the least doubt that he would have made a murderous attack upon me.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)