bestial

American  

[bes-chuhl, bees-] / ˈbɛs tʃəl, ˈbis- /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or having the form of a beast.

   the belief that a person could assume bestial form after death;

   the bestial signs of the zodiac.

2. without reason or intelligence; brutal; inhuman.

   bestial treatment of prisoners.

3. beastlike in gratifying one's sensual desires; carnal; debased.

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bestial British  

/ ˈbɛstɪəl /

adjective

1. brutal or savage

2. sexually depraved; carnal

3. lacking in refinement; brutish

4. of or relating to a beast

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Other Word Forms

• bestially adverb

Etymology

Origin of bestial

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, either from Anglo-French or directly from Late Latin bēstiālis ( Latin bēsti(a) beast + -ālis -al ¹ )

Example Sentences

Although he welcomed the Gladstone apology in Guyana, he said the failure to acknowledge Jamaica hinted at "an unwillingness to face up to the full brutal, bestial horror of chattel slavery" in the country.

From BBC • Aug. 25, 2023

White-suited Dr. Moreau herds his bestial mutants and plots to mate his panther-woman with a visitor.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 23, 2020

In an interview with The Verge from 2016, Ueda largely attributed this to the difficulties in bestial cat / bird / dog Trico’s technical design.

From The Verge • Dec. 2, 2019

And you said that one of the things that was interesting to you about America was that, despite bestial behavior, we had failed to produce a nation of beasts.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 7, 2019

Figures stood there at its head, carven with cunning in forms human and bestial, but all corrupt and loathsome.

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien