Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Eager to cause or see the shedding of blood.
  • adjective Characterized by violence or carnage.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Eager to shed blood; murderous: as, “his bloodthirstie blade,” ; “bloodthirsty lord,”

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Eager to shed blood; cruel; sanguinary; murderous; having a bloodlust.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Eager to resort to violence.
  • adjective Characterized by massive bloodshed.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective marked by eagerness to resort to violence and bloodshed

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From blood +‎ thirsty. Compare Dutch bloeddorstig ("bloodthirsty"), German blutdürstig ("bloodthirsty"), Danish blodtørstig ("bloodthirsty"), Swedish blodtörstig ("bloodthristy").

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Examples

  • Maybe, but in the arts it takes more than just being good; it takes what I call bloodthirsty determination.

    Rain V. C. Andrews 2001

  • Maybe, but in the arts it takes more than just being good; it takes what I call bloodthirsty determination.

    Rain V. C. Andrews 2001

  • They were doing their best to strike down the universal monarchy of Spain, which they described as a bloodthirsty, insatiable, insolent, absolute dominion of Saracenic, Moorish Christians.

    History of the United Netherlands, 1590a John Lothrop Motley 1845

  • They were doing their best to strike down the universal monarchy of Spain, which they described as a bloodthirsty, insatiable, insolent, absolute dominion of Saracenic, Moorish Christians.

    History of the United Netherlands from the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce — Complete (1584-1609) John Lothrop Motley 1845

  • They were doing their best to strike down the universal monarchy of Spain, which they described as a bloodthirsty, insatiable, insolent, absolute dominion of Saracenic, Moorish Christians.

    History of the United Netherlands, 1590-99 — Complete John Lothrop Motley 1845

  • They were doing their best to strike down the universal monarchy of Spain, which they described as a bloodthirsty, insatiable, insolent, absolute dominion of Saracenic, Moorish Christians.

    PG Edition of Netherlands series — Complete John Lothrop Motley 1845

  • Invocations, in bloodthirsty language, encouraged it to punish the guilty party.

    Fetishes As Fetish Does Heather McDougal 2007

  • Justices — Justiciary — whatever they call their bloodthirsty court, and save your sister from being murdered, and them from becoming murderers.

    The Heart of Mid-Lothian 2007

  • When in bloodthirsty history did beauty ever save anyone from anything?

    Alexandr Solzhenitsyn - Nobel Lecture 1970

  • --- Justiciary --- whatever they call their bloodthirsty court, and save your sister from being murdered, and them from becoming murderers.

    The Heart of Mid-Lothian 1822

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