sanguinary Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite accompanied by bloodshed
    gory; sanguineous; slaughterous; butcherly.
    • this bitter and sanguinary war
  2. adjective satellite marked by eagerness to resort to violence and bloodshed
    bloody-minded; bloodthirsty.
    • bloody-minded tyrants
    • bloodthirsty yells
    • went after the collaborators with a sanguinary fury that drenched the land with blood"-G.W.Johnson

WordNet

San"gui*na*ry adjective
Etymology
L. sanguinarius, fr. sanguis blood: cf. F.sanguinaire.
Definitions
  1. Attended with much bloodshed; bloody; murderous; as, a sanguinary war, contest, or battle.
    We may not propagate religion by wars, or by sanguinary persecutions to force consciences. Bacon.
  2. Bloodthirsty; cruel; eager to shed blood.
    Passion . . . makes us brutal and sanguinary. Broome.
San"gui*na*ry noun
Etymology
L. herba sanguinaria an herb that stanches blood: cf. F. sanguinaire. See Sanguinary, a.
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) (a) The yarrow. (b) The Sanguinaria.

Webster 1913