What does "bloodlust" mean?

A desire for bloodshed and carnage, often aroused in the heat of battle and leading to uncontrolled slaughter and torture.

What is a synonym for "bloodlust"?

Common synonyms include: ferocity, savagery, acuteness, animality, atrociousness, atrocity.

//ˈblʌdˌlʌst// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A desire for bloodshed and carnage, often aroused in the heat of battle and leading to uncontrolled slaughter and torture. countable, uncountable
"Yet the blood lust was on me now. I found myself on my feet emptying one magazine, then the other, clicking open the breech to re-load, snapping it to again, while cheering and yelling with pure ferocity and joy of slaughter as I did so."
2
a desire for bloodshed wordnet

"Berzerkers are famous for the bloodlust, but what about their tender regard for poetry?"

From blood + lust.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.