bloodthirsty

Etymology

It is formed from English blood + thirsty,^[2][3][4][5] and the Shorter Oxford takes it as modelled on Luther's German blutdürstig.^[4] Blood is from Old English blōd and thirsty is from Old English þurstig.^[3] Etymonline compares the same German adjective and Dutch bloeddorstig, and notes a similar image in Ancient Greek αἱμόδιψος (haimódipsos).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Thirsting for blood, eager for bloodshed: 1539, in Psalm 139 of the Great Bible.^[2][6] Etymonline dates it to the 1530s, citing Coverdale's Psalm xxv.9,^[3] and the Shorter Oxford likewise says it is first recorded in Coverdale.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Beyond an eagerness for real bloodshed, it is also used of fierce partisan hostility that only sounds as if it wanted blood,^[6] and of whatever depicts killing and violence, such as a gruesome film.^[7] bloodthirstiness is recorded from the mid 17th century and bloodthirstily from the late 19th.^[4]

Timeline

• 1539 – eager for bloodshed, murderous.^[2][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Eager to shed blood; murderous or taking pleasure in violence: a bloodthirsty warlord.^[7][6][2]
2. Fiercely hostile or partisan, as if seeking bloodshed: the bloodthirsty roar of the crowd.^[6]
3. Showing or describing killing and violence; gruesome: a bloodthirsty novel.^[7]

Word family

• bloodthirstily
• bloodthirstiness

Related words

• blood
• thirsty
• thirst

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins