victims

nounsomeone or something sacrificed, preyed upon

Synonyms for victims

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Antonyms for victims

Word Origin & History

late 15c., "living creature killed and offered as a sacrifice to a deity or supernatural power," from Latin victima "person or animal killed as a sacrifice." Perhaps distantly connected to Old English wig "idol," Gothic weihs "holy," German weihen "consecrate" (cf. Weihnachten "Christmas") on notion of "a consecrated animal." Sense of "person who is hurt, tortured, or killed by another" is first recorded 1650s; meaning "person oppressed by some power or situation" is from 1718. Weaker sense of "person taken advantage of" is recorded from 1781.

Example Sentences forvictims

Victims were sacrificed, and the omens declared not unpropitious.

They are victims of their elders' folly, of our carelessness as to their environment.

Bores who had travelled inflicted advice on victims who had not.

I was in a hurry to leave the store, the home of these two victims of civilisation.

The two stand in the fast-thinning throng of victims, but they speak as if they were alone.

I have heard you preach patience and courage to your victims.

The captain himself was one of the victims to the "movement."

Many had already been the victims of his seducing arts; were they to blame?

Rich or poor, each of the victims chosen by lot must meet his fate.

Stunned by the tragedy, none of the victims had made much of an outcry.