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
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"Mending Wall," by Robert Frost
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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:
Its savage truth explains Black folks’ deep compassion for British scholar Jason Arday, and the widespread anger over concerted efforts to assassinate his character before he was found dead.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
The triumph of modern humanity over our savage natures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
But under million-dollar luxury apartments chilled by whirling air conditioners, tenants in one of Seoul's last shanty towns suffer headaches in the savage heat.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
Iggy Pop’s ability to stay shirtless and savage at 79 goes beyond scientific explanation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Their fierceness and savage temper, however, did not grow less; they had no laws or courts of justice, but each one did as he pleased.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Steph Savage, from Surrey, can see the new rules helping with costs for her two children.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Yet at a young age, even the 1975 action film “Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze” terrified him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
Emily Savage, 25, had planned a relaxing Greece trip with her best friend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
His mother, Maisie Savage, from London, was operated on by doctors in the US while she was 26 weeks pregnant.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
In the end Bernard had to slink back, diminished, to his rooms and inform the impatient assembly that the Savage would not be appearing that evening.
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
“Some in the Free Cities think that we’re all savages on our side of the narrow sea,” the knight went on.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Reddit users savaged the photos: “That coleslaw looks terrible, and all the bread looks like reptile skin,” one wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
England were savaged back home following the defeat on Saturday.
From Barron's ● Nov. 24, 2025
Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate a part of California that has been savaged by wildfire for a second day running.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2024
How could I sit back when my friend’s guava tree continued to be routinely ransacked and my co-worker’s avocados savaged and tossed to the ground with grubby-pawed abandon?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 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
This week, reality TV show star Spencer Pratt posted multiple videos on social media savaging a proposed state bill on wildfire rebuilding.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2025
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
We have always had divisive politics in the United States, going back to when Jefferson and Hamilton started savaging each other during the Washington administration.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 7, 2022
The last thing he needed just now was his wolf savaging the skinchanger’s boar.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
