Chinese word

屠杀

Pronunciation

Pinyintú shā

Meaning

  • verbmassacre

Example

军队在战争中屠杀了许多平民。jūn duì zài zhàn zhēng zhōng tú shā le xǔ duō píng mín

The army massacred many civilians during the war.

Illustration for 屠杀 (massacre)

More examples

恐怖组织在边境村庄屠杀了居民。kǒng bù zǔ zhī zài biān jìng cūn zhuāng tú shā le jū mín

A terrorist group massacred the residents of a border village.

Core concept

The destruction of many innocent lives through organized and merciless killing.

Common phrases

  • 屠杀平民tú shā píng mín

    massacre civilians

  • 屠杀无辜tú shā wú gū

    massacre innocent people

  • 大规模屠杀平民dà guī mó tú shā píng mín

    massacre civilians in large numbers

Similar words

屠戮tú lù: To kill a great number of people in a mass act of violence.
杀害shā hài: To kill a person, without stating how or why the death occurs.
灭绝miè jué: To destroy a group or species completely until none are left.
屠宰tú zǎi: To kill animals for food or another practical purpose.

Definition in Chinese

以组织性或系统性的手段对大量无辜者实施残暴性杀害。yǐ zǔ zhī xìng huò xì tǒng xìng de shǒu duàn duì dà liàng wú gū zhě shí shī cán bào xìng shā hài

Word origin

屠 (tú, "butcher") + 杀 (shā, "kill") turns the concrete idea of butchering into a compound for the large-scale killing of people.

Usage tips

  • The word often appears in discussions of war, history, and crimes against civilians, and its weight makes careful context important when speaking outside those settings.

Other meanings

  • slaughterverb

Opposites

Related words

  • 屠杀罪tú shā zuìcrime of massacrenoun
  • 屠杀者tú shā zhěmassacrernoun
  • 大屠杀dà tú shāmass slaughternoun

Word lists with this word