butcher

verb

Synonyms and Antonyms of BUTCHER

to kill on a large scale <the barbarians butchered the monks in the monasteries without mercy>

Synonyms butcher, mow (down), slaughter

Related Words assassinate, croak [slang], dispatch, do in, execute, fell, murder, slay, smite, snuff; annihilate, blot out, decimate, demolish, destroy, devastate, eradicate, exterminate, waste, wipe out

to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way <the new piano student butchered the sonatina>

Synonyms blow, bobble, boggle, bollix (up), boot, bugger (up), bumble, bungle, butcher, dub, flub, fluff, foozle, foul up, fumble, goof (up), louse up, mangle, mess (up), muck up, muff, murder, screw up

Related Words blunder, gum (up), muddle, piffle; blemish, blight, damage, flaw, harm, hurt, impair, injure, mar, mutilate, ruin, spoil, vitiate; destroy, wreck; mishandle, mismanage

Near Antonyms ameliorate, better, enhance, help, improve, meliorate, rectify, refine, reform, remedy; doctor, fix, patch, recondition, renovate, repair, revamp

What made you want to look up butcher[verb]? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

Put-downs with flair

How to use a word that (literally) drives some people nuts.

Test your vocab with our fun, fast game

Ailurophobia, and 9 other unusual fears