brute force

Idioms  

1. Also, brute strength. Savage violence, unreasoning strength, as in We hope that reason will triumph over brute force. Although this expression is also used literally to mean exceptional physical power, the figurative sense reflects the origin for brute, which comes from Latin brutus, for “heavy, stupid, unreasoning.” [First half of 1700s]

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Example Sentences

“It’s susceptible to brute force. That’s to say, you can simply check every possible solution. There are only twenty-five Caesar shifts, since a shift of twenty-six gets you right back where you started. Once people figured that out, the cipher was useless. That set off a two-thousand-year war between makers and breakers of secret writing. A twisting path that leads to this Park. Right here to this room.”

From Literature

Moore said that the officer who shoved the woman appeared to be using “brute force rather than efforts to create de-escalation,” and that spraying irritants is never suitable for dealing with “passive resistance,” which appeared to be what the woman and Pretti were involved in.

From Los Angeles Times

South Africa have long relied on fast bowlers of rare quality, but this attack has evolved beyond brute force.

From BBC

And by the sheer brute force of its size, bond markets force both the subjects of its wrath, and the investors that rely on them, into submission.

From Barron's

"It's not about brute force," Tolić explains.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• clout
• courage
• durability
• energy
• firmness
• fortitude
• health
• power
• stability
• tenacity
• toughness
• vigor
• vitality