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
While she deftly fends off his brutish attempts to express his attraction—Anna’s past has made her wary of men and skilled at putting them in their place—Anna nevertheless feels drawn to this forceful man.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 14, 2025
This year, it became apparent to more shoppers that Prime Day is less a showcase of Amazon deals than a brutish exhibition of the platform’s unmatched power.
From Slate • Oct. 13, 2025
But in screenwriter Noah Pink’s melodramatic imagining of incidents both well-documented and mysterious, one can see this Hollywood veteran on a mission to loosen the shackles of his reputation and have some nasty, brutish fun.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 23, 2025
The men were brutish, but the spirits that flitted about them were far worse.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
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.
