mutilation means the act of mutilating or the state of being mutilated. It carries an Arena rating of 1304, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, mutilation ranks #162 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #2,371 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #2,997 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #3,687 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
Why “mutilation” is a great word
The act of inflicting severe damage or disfigurement on a body or object, especially by cutting off or destroying a part. From Latin *mutilatio*, from *mutilare* ('to cut off, to mutilate'), from *mutilus* ('maimed, mutilated'), first attested in English in the early 16th century. Unlike 'amputation,' which can denote a clinical removal for preservation, or 'disfigurement,' a broad spoiling of appearance, mutilation is violence given permanent, jagged form. It is the hacked-off nose of a defaced statue, the sheared corners of a passport photograph, the brutal severing meant not to heal but to make wholeness impossible. It is the physical grammar of negation, a testament not to what was taken, but to the irreversible fact of the taking.
Etymology
Latin mutilatio; compare French mutilation.
noun
- The act of mutilating or the state of being mutilated.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.