brutish
Americanadjective
-
of, relating to, or resembling a brute or brutes; animal
-
coarse; cruel; stupid
Other Word Forms
- brutishly adverb
- brutishness noun
Etymology
Origin of brutish
Explanation
Use the adjective brutish to describe someone who is so cruel or violent that he seems more like a wild animal than a human. A brutish king will be deeply disliked by his subjects. Someone who's brutish is uncivilized in some way. A brutish person might, for example, knock a table over when he's angry or slap another person without a thought. Brutish leaders make decisions that endanger or even kill people. The word brutish means "like a brute," and a brute is an extremely violent or wild person or animal. In the 1500's, brutish simply meant "like an animal," and the Latin root word, brutus, means "heavy, dull, or stupid."
Vocabulary lists containing brutish
Surviving Hitler
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Excerpt from "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar"
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Becoming Kareem
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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.
It isn’t creedal or expansive, will likely be more brutish and narrow.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026
“It could make life less nasty, less brutish, and less short—and less hard.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 15, 2025
He quotes the philosopher Thomas Hobbes that our lives have been “nasty, brutish and short.”
From Slate • Jul. 28, 2025
“There’s not much there and it’s certainly not intellectually or spiritually illuminating in any way, shape or form. They are brutish entertainers, and that’s it.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2025
I'm almost certain that's the brutish boy from District 2.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
