bloodshed
noun
Simple meaning
A slaughter; destruction of life, notably on a large scale.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bluhdshedSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈblʌdʃɛd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
literally
The shedding of blood resulting in murder
“He avenged the bloodshed of his kinsmen.”
literally
The shedding or spilling of blood.
A slaughter; destruction of life, notably on a large scale.
Indiscriminate slaughter
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The shedding of blood resulting in murder
Used this way, bloodshed is a common word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“He avenged the bloodshed of his kinsmen.”
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “bloodshed of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: bloodshed of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use bloodshed
- “He avenged the bloodshed of his kinsmen.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: shedding of blood resulting in murder
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.