savage
adjective
fierce, ferocious, or cruel; untamed.
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:
Iggy Pop’s ability to stay shirtless and savage at 79 goes beyond scientific explanation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
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
Our critic said that in it influencer culture “is satirized with savage wit.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
The incident led to the publication of a first dishevelled mugshot, a savage contrast to thousands of glorious pictures that had celebrated his status as an all-conquering champion.
From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2026
I take a savage bite of my pastry.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
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
Investor Russ Savage is putting properties across California, Colorado and Utah on the market.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
Da Savage says it feels "surreal" as she listened to Linkin Park growing up and all the attention means her song Innit is going to be released next week.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
Outside, in the other room, the Savage was striding up and down, marching, marching to the drums and music of magical words.
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 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
"It's dangerous there, people have become savages and they hate each other. I tried to stay there so my kids could be close to their family, but I couldn't continue because nobody helped me."
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2023
When Dany climbed back into the palanquin beside him, he said, "Your savages are wiser than they know. Such truths as the Asshai'i hoard are not like to make you smile."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
After Anthony’s dog savaged another man’s hog—hogs being precious in New Netherland—the couple was banished in 1639 to Long Island, where the two started a new life on land the Dutch wished to colonize.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 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
During a nearly three-hour-long summation, Blanche savaged Cohen with that word, dubbing him a “G.L.O.A.T.,” or the greatest liar of all time.
From New York Times ● May 28, 2024
I told him, and I am telling you now, that although she’d been savaged by her awful disease, she was a beautiful woman.
From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk
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
But the show’s prolonged savaging by critics, who offended most of all by what they saw as Hirshfield’s crudeness and incompetence.
From New York Times ● Sep. 29, 2022
Crookshanks darted up first; he had evidently pressed his paw to the knot on the trunk, because Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron clambered upward without any sound of savaging branches.
From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling
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.
