carnage

C3A1R1N1A1G2E1
UK/ˈkɑː.nɪdʒ/US/ˈkɑɹ.nɪd͡ʒ/

noun

Death and destruction.

“There was carnage after the school play ended with 96 deaths.”

Less commonScrabble 10

Meanings

nouncarnage (usually uncountable, plural carnages)

plural carnages

  1. uncountableusuallyDeath and destruction.

    There was carnage after the school play ended with 96 deaths.

    2 more examples

    Unleash the wolves / Carnage has no rules / Comparison, competition / We'll bury one and all, all

    2007, “Wolves”, in Robb Flynn (lyrics), The Blackening, performed by Machine Head, Track 7

    Carnage consumes all we’ve ever loved / The innocent blistered by the flame / Trial by fire we burn in shame

    2019, “The Sea of Tragic Beasts”, performed by Fit for an Autopsy

    Synonyms: massacre, bloodbath

  2. uncountableusuallyThe corpses, gore, etc. that remain after a massacre.
  3. figurativelyuncountableusuallyhobbiesAny great loss by a team; a game in which one team wins overwhelmingly.

    The game against Sri Lanka and Australia was carnage with Australia winning by 287 runs.

  4. figurativelyslanguncountableusuallyA heavy drinking binge and its aftermath.

    Within three hours we'd drunk the place dry. Miraculously, we all made it back on the bus, but I've never seen a more bacchanalian scene of wanton debauchery than the ride back to the hotel. It was total carnage.

    2015, Adam Jones, Bomb: My Autobiography
    1 more example

    The lads had recently returned from a wild summer on the party island of Ibiza, an increasingly popular hotspot for working-class British youth. But this was not a scene of drunken holiday carnage in tacky discos.

    2014, Simon Spence, Happy Mondays: Excess All Areas

    Synonyms: rampage

  5. figurativelyslanguncountableusuallyAny chaotic situation.
    1 more example

    Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities, rusted out factories, scattered like tombstones across the across the landscape of our nation, an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge, and the crime, and the gangs, and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential. This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.

    2017 January 20, Donald Trump, The Inaugural Address

Synonyms & antonyms

nounDeath and destruction.

nounA heavy drinking binge and its aftermath.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

nounthe savage and excessive killing of many people

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Vulgar Latin*carnaticum“slaughter of animals”
  2. Middle Frenchcarnage
  3. Englishcarnage

Borrowed from Middle French carnage, from a Norman or Picard variant Old Northern French) of Old French charnage, from char (“flesh”), or from Vulgar Latin *carnaticum (“slaughter of animals”), itself from Latin carnem, accusative of caro (“flesh”). By surface analysis, Latin carn- + -age.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian клане, сеч
  • клане (klane)death and destruction
  • сеч (seč)death and destruction
Catalan carnatge
  • carnatgedeath and destruction
Chinese Mandarin 大屠殺 /大屠杀, 大屠杀
  • 大屠殺 /大屠杀 (dàtúshā)death and destruction
  • 大屠杀 (dàtúshā)death and destruction
  • 屠殺 /屠杀 (túshā)death and destruction
  • 屠杀 (túshā)death and destruction
  • 慘案 /惨案 (cǎn'àn)death and destruction
  • 惨案 (cǎn'àn)death and destruction
Czech masakr, krveprolití
  • masakrdeath and destruction
  • krveprolitídeath and destruction
  • řeždeath and destruction
  • jatkadeath and destruction
Dutch bloedbad
  • bloedbaddeath and destruction
Finnish verilöyly
  • verilöylydeath and destruction
French carnage
  • carnagedeath and destruction
German Gemetzel, Abschlachtung
  • Gemetzeldeath and destruction
  • Abschlachtungdeath and destruction
Greek ανθρωποσφαγή, μακελειό
  • ανθρωποσφαγή (anthroposfagí)death and destruction
  • μακελειό (makeleió)death and destruction
  • εκατόμβη (ekatómvi)death and destruction
Hebrew מרחץ דמים
  • מרחץ דמיםdeath and destruction
Hungarian vérontás
  • vérontásdeath and destruction
Icelandic eyðing
  • eyðingdeath and destruction
Irish eirleach
  • eirleachdeath and destruction
Italian carneficina, carnaio
  • carneficinadeath and destruction
  • carnaiodeath and destruction
Japanese 大虐殺, 修羅
  • 大虐殺 (daigyakusatsu)death and destruction
  • 修羅 (shura)death and destruction
Korean 대학살
  • 대학살 (daehaksal)death and destruction
Latin strāgēs
  • strāgēsdeath and destruction
Māori tārukenga, tārukenga
  • tārukengadeath and destruction
  • tārukengawhat remains after a massacre
Polish rzeź, jatka
  • rzeźdeath and destruction
  • jatkadeath and destruction
Portuguese massacre, carnagem
  • massacredeath and destruction
  • carnagemdeath and destruction
Russian резня́, бо́йня
  • резня́ (reznjá)death and destruction
  • бо́йня (bójnja)death and destruction
  • побо́ище (pobóišče)death and destruction
Scottish Gaelic àr, marbhadh
  • àrdeath and destruction
  • marbhadhdeath and destruction
Spanish carnicería, mortandad
  • carniceríadeath and destruction
  • mortandaddeath and destruction
  • mortaldaddeath and destruction
  • escabechinadeath and destruction
  • degollinadeath and destruction
  • carnajedeath and destruction
  • carniceríawhat remains after a massacre

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

carnage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carnage

MLA

“carnage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carnage. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “carnage,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carnage.

Source: carnage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.