English

Adjective

sanguinary ‎(comparative more sanguinary, superlative most sanguinary)

1. (of an event) Attended with bloodshed.
   • 1625, Francis Bacon, "Unity in Religion" (Google preview):

     We may not propagate religion by wars, or by sanguinary persecutions to force consciences.

   • 1887, Henry Rider Haggard, Allan Quatermain, Chapter XIII:

     " […] every one of which took its rise from some noble family that succeeded in grasping the purple after a sanguinary struggle."

2. (of a person) Eager to shed blood; bloodthirsty.
   • c. 1730, William Broome:

     Passion […] makes us brutal and sanguinary.

   • 1877, Samuel Green, The Life of Mahomet: Founder of the Religion of Islamism and of the Empire of the Saracens with Notices of the History of Islamism and of Arabia, p. 126:

     "The defence set up for Mahomet is equally availing for every sanguinary and revengeful tyrant; […] "

3. (of an object) Consisting of, covered with, or similar in appearance to blood.
   • 1913, H. G. Wells, Little Wars, Section VI:

     Here is the premeditation, the thrill, the strain of accumulating victory or disaster—and no smashed nor sanguinary bodies […] , that we who are old enough to remember a real modern war know to be the reality of belligerence.

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with sanguine. Sanguine can mean “optimistic”, while sanguinary means “bloodthirsty, gory”.

Synonyms

• (attended with bloodshed): bloody, gory
• (eager to shed blood): bloodthirsty, bloody-minded, butcherous, slaughterous
• (consisting of, covered with, or resembling blood): bloody, gory

Related terms

• sanguine
• sanguineous

Translations

Noun

sanguinary ‎(plural sanguinaries)

1. A bloodthirsty person.
2. The plant yarrow, or herba sanguinaria.