sadism

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In other hands, a film of such unadorned fatalism might seem useless, an exercise in emotional sadism.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

Feeding this public appetite for sadism has been an animating feature of Noem’s DHS.

From Salon • Feb. 13, 2026

The boys and men - whom Ms Barrett calls "crimefluencers" - subscribe to a variety of ideologies, including including nihilism, sadism, Nazism and satanism.

From BBC • Oct. 28, 2025

If the movie “X” could be described as “Boogie Nights” meets “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” then its prequel “Pearl” feels like watching Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz” develop a penchant for sadism.

From Washington Post • Sep. 14, 2022

The world was full of fathers—was therefore full of misery; full of mothers—therefore of every kind of perversion from sadism to chastity; full of brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts—full of madness and suicide.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley