different between bloody vs sanguinary

English

Alternative forms

• bloudy (obsolete)

Etymology 1

From Middle English blody, blodi, from Old English bl?di?, bl?de? (“bloody”), from Proto-Germanic *bl?þagaz (“bloody”), equivalent to blood +? -y. Cognate with Dutch bloedig (“bloody”), German blutig (“bloody”), Danish blodig (“bloody”), Swedish blodig (“bloody”), Icelandic blóðugur (“bloody”). See Wikipedia for thoughts on sense evolution.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?bl?.di/
• Rhymes: -?di

Adjective

bloody (comparative bloodier, superlative bloodiest)

1. Covered in blood.

   Synonyms: bleeding, bloodied, gory, sanguinolent
2. Characterised by bloodshed.
   • 2007, Lucinda Mallows, Lucy Mallows, Slovakia: The Bradt Travel Guide, page 169

     The story of Elizabeth Bathory is one of the bloodiest in history.

3. (rare in US, Canada, common in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, slang) Used as an intensifier.
   • 1916 May 31, David Beatty during the Battle of Jutland:

     There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today.

   • 2003, Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, page 64

     You are not to go asking anyone about who killed that bloody dog.

   • 2007, James MacFarlane, Avenge My Kin, Book 2: A Time of Testing, page 498

     “You bloody fool, I could?ve stabbed you in the heart,” David said in mock anger, and then smiled widely.

4. (dated) Badly behaved; unpleasant; beastly.

Synonyms

• (intensifier): bally, blasted, bleeding (chiefly British Cockney), blinking, blooming, damn, damned, dang, darned, doggone, flaming, freaking, fricking, frigging, fucking, goddam / goddamn, goddamned, godforsaken (rare), wretched, rotten
• See also Thesaurus:damned

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

bloody (comparative more bloody, superlative most bloody)

1. (rare in US, Canada, common in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, slang, intensifier) Used to express anger, annoyance, shock, or for emphasis.

   Synonyms: bloody well, bally, blasted, bleeding, blooming

Translations

Verb

bloody (third-person singular simple present bloodies, present participle bloodying, simple past and past participle bloodied)

1. To draw blood from one's opponent in a fight.
2. To demonstrably harm the cause of an opponent.

Translations

Etymology 2

Clipping of bloody mary

Noun

bloody (plural bloodies)

1. (casual) bloody mary

Anagrams

• old boy

English

Etymology

From Middle English sanguinarie, from Latin sanguin?rius.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?sæ??w?n??i/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?sæ??w?n??i/
• Hyphenation: san?gui?nar?y

Adjective

sanguinary (comparative more sanguinary, superlative most sanguinary)

1. (of an event) Involving bloodshed.

   Synonyms: bloody, gory

   • 1625, Francis Bacon, "Unity in Religion" (Google preview):

     We may not propagate religion by wars, or by sanguinary persecutions to force consciences.

   • 1887, Henry Rider Haggard, Allan Quatermain, Chapter XIII:

     " […] every one of which took its rise from some noble family that succeeded in grasping the purple after a sanguinary struggle."

2. (of a person) Eager to shed blood; bloodthirsty.

   Synonyms: bloodthirsty, bloody-minded, butcherous, slaughterous

   • c. 1730, William Broome:

     Passion […] makes us brutal and sanguinary.
3. (of an object) Consisting of, covered with, or similar in appearance to blood.

   Synonyms: bloodsoaked, bloody, gory

   • I was once, I remember, called to a patient who had received a violent contusion in his tibia, by which the exterior cutis was lacerated, so that there was a profuse sanguinary discharge […]

   • 1913, H. G. Wells, Little Wars, Section VI:

     Here is the premeditation, the thrill, the strain of accumulating victory or disaster—and no smashed nor sanguinary bodies […] , that we who are old enough to remember a real modern war know to be the reality of belligerence.

   • 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka (republished by Eland, 2019; p. 117):

     We reached the Point just as a flood of sunset light was dripping from the heavens, staining the lagoon an ominous, sanguinary hue.

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with sanguine. Sanguine can mean “optimistic”, while sanguinary means “bloodthirsty, gory”.

Related terms

Translations

Noun

sanguinary (plural sanguinaries)

1. A bloodthirsty person.
2. The plant common yarrow, or herba sanguinaria (Achillea millefolium).