Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

bruiser

American  
[broo-zer] / ˈbru zər /

noun

Informal.

  1. a strong, tough person.

    The football player was over six feet tall and weighed 285 pounds—a real bruiser.
bruiser British  
/ ˈbruːzə /

noun

  1. informal a strong tough person, esp a boxer or a bully

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of bruiser

First recorded in 1580–90; bruise + -er 1

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.

She is the ultimate bruiser, a prolific trash-talker and a notorious pest.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026

Mr. Prescott also had a reputation as a pugnacious political bruiser.

From New York Times • Nov. 21, 2024

On that front, the tip of the spear is 7-foot bruiser Oumar Ballo, who averages 13 points and 10 rebounds a game, recording 33 putbacks this season, according to Hoop-Math.com.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 21, 2024

Finn Russell must have felt like he was playing in a maze in Marseille, a bewildering series of dead ends and exits blocked by the hulking presence of one Springbok bruiser after another.

From BBC • Sep. 10, 2023

I’m about eight months old, a pudge-faced, no-nonsense bruiser in diapers and an ironed white dress, looking ready to slide out of my mother’s clutches, staring down the camera as if I might eat it.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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.