savage
adjective
fierce, ferocious, or cruel; untamed.
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savage
1 American
[sav-ij]
/ ˈsæv ɪdʒ /
adjective
-
fierce, ferocious, or cruel; untamed.
savage beasts.
- Synonyms:
- bloodthirsty, fell, feral, wild
- Antonyms:
- mild
-
Offensive. relating to or being a preliterate people or society regarded as uncivilized or primitive.
-
enraged or furiously angry, as a person.
-
unpolished; rude.
savage manners.
- Antonyms:
- cultured
-
wild or rugged, as country or scenery.
savage wilderness.
- Synonyms:
- uncultivated, rough
- Antonyms:
- cultivated
-
Archaic. uncultivated; growing wild.
noun
savages
plural
verb (used with object)
savages,
present (3rd person singular)
savaged,
past participle, past
savaging
present participle
-
to assault and maul by biting, rending, goring, etc.; tear at or mutilate.
numerous sheep savaged by dogs.
-
to attack or criticize thoroughly or remorselessly; excoriate.
a play savaged by the critics.
-
to greatly weaken, damage, or harm.
The age of automation and globalization, with companies searching for lower wages overseas, has savaged organized labor.
Savage
2
American
[sav-ij]
/ ˈsæv ɪdʒ /
noun
-
Michael Joseph, 1872–1940, New Zealand statesman and labor leader: prime minister 1935–40.
-
Richard, 1697?–1743, English poet.
savage
1
British
/ ˈsævɪdʒ /
adjective
-
wild; untamed
savage beasts of the jungle
-
ferocious in temper; vicious
a savage dog
-
uncivilized; crude
savage behaviour
-
(of peoples) nonliterate or primitive
a savage tribe
-
(of terrain) rugged and uncultivated
-
obsolete far from human habitation
noun
-
a member of a nonliterate society, esp one regarded as primitive
-
a crude or uncivilized person
-
a fierce or vicious person or animal
verb
-
to criticize violently
-
to attack ferociously and wound
the dog savaged the child
Savage
2
British
/ ˈsævɪdʒ /
noun
Synonym Usage
See cruel.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
savagedomnoun
-
savagenessnoun
-
unsavagenessnoun
-
half-savageadjective
-
presavageadjective
-
quasi-savageadjective
-
semisavageadjective
-
unsavageadjective
-
half-savagelyadverb
-
quasi-savagelyadverb
-
savagelyadverb
-
unsavagelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
savagesimple
-
savagessimple
-
have savagedperfect
-
has savagedperfect
-
am savagingprogressive
-
are savagingprogressive
-
is savagingprogressive
-
have been savagingperfect progressive
-
has been savagingperfect progressive
Past
-
savagedsimple
-
had savagedperfect
-
was savagingprogressive
-
were savagingprogressive
-
had been savagingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of savage
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English adjective savage, saveage, sauvage, salvage, from Old French sauvage, salvage, savage, Anglo-French sawage, from Medieval Latin salvāticus, for Latin silvāticus, equivalent to silv(a) “woods” + -āticus adjective suffix; noun derivative of the adjective
Explanation
A polar bear in a zoo might look like an adorable giant stuffed animal, but if you met a hungry one in its native environment, it would seem more savage — wild and fierce — than cute. Describing an animal as savage means that it is true to its wild, ferocious nature, but if you describe a person or the actions of a person as savage, it means "cruel" or "brutal." A place can also be described as savage if it's untamed, uninhabitable, and unwelcoming. When savage takes the form of a noun, it means "a brutal person," and when it's a verb it means "to attack ferociously." Any way you use it, savage is uncivilized and violent.
Vocabulary lists containing savage
More Negative Words to Describe a Person
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"Mending Wall," by Robert Frost
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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.
See Examples For:
This savage, amoral and unfeeling Robin Hood has been written to invert everything modern fans like about him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
Early reviewers, writes Ms. Lutz, found the book “too gloomy, savage, and eccentric.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
In their place is the perfect combination of brilliant individual skill bolted on to a savage work ethic and defensive solidity that will make them a formidable hurdle for Arsenal to overcome.
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
And he won another Tony for his savage portrayal of Roy M. Cohn in the Broadway revival of Tony Kushner’s two-part epic, “Angels in America.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
The worship of Dionysus was centered in these two ideas so far apart—of freedom and ecstatic joy and of savage brutality.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
At Tuesday’s Coastal Commission meeting, Jennifer Savage of the Surfrider Foundation stepped to the microphone and said to commissioners:
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
Savage tells clients in a note that the telecommunications provider’s fiscal 2027 guidance is likely to be equally unremarkable relative to expectations, leaving its scope for buybacks as the key focus for investors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Lisa Savage, the Green-aligned independent candidate, earned 5 percent of the vote, and was instructing her supporters to rank Gideon second.
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026
Analyst Chris Savage says traffic levels across Australia since April have been relatively normal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
“I claim them all,” said the Savage at last.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
“What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? What’s grown-ups going to think?” cries Piggy, the book’s preteen standard-bearer for logic and civilization.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026
"We're not savages, we're not animals, we're not aliens – we're humans," he added from the stage after his win for best musicá urbana album.
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2026
"We're not savages, we're not animals, we're not aliens; we are humans and we are Americans," the singer said after being given the Grammy for Best Musica Urbana Album.
From Barron's ● Feb. 2, 2026
His uncompromising hostility toward revolutionaries inspired Thomas Paine to remark in 1776, “Even brutes do not devour their young, nor savages make war upon their families.”
From National Geographic ● Jul. 3, 2023
“What a wild bunch of savages those sparrows are! I thought they had me once or twice back there.”
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Though critics savaged the movie, opening night audiences gave it an average grade of A-, according to market research firm CinemaScore.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
England were savaged back home following the defeat on Saturday.
From Barron's ● Nov. 24, 2025
And an aspiring Vietnamese pop star who’d been a contestant on “American Idol” was savaged on social media last summer after footage of her singing at the U.S. memorial service of an anti-communist activist surfaced.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2025
She said owners of dogs like the one that savaged her arm should be banned from buying further animals.
From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2024
When they was gathered by him, he pointed to each Organ of the savaged Fish & he told them of its Use, & he demonstrated which were not from Fish, but Sheep.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
Landau was aware of what constituted crowd appeal, but is too good-natured to savage many of the people along the way who perhaps deserve savaging.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
It emphasized the long-standing national tradition of cartoons savaging public figures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2024
People would keep one eye on their bank accounts for missed deposits and the other on Wall Street, where concerns over the nation's creditworthiness could be savaging the value of people's life savings.
From Reuters ● May 23, 2023
Each candidate has been savaging the other as a creature of Washington.
From New York Times ● Sep. 9, 2022
Ralph blundered on, savaging himself, as the wisp of smoke moved on.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
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.
