beastie

[ bee-stee ]

noun

1. Chiefly Literary. a small animal, especially one toward which affection is felt.
2. Facetious. an insect; bug.
3. Canadian Slang (chiefly Alberta). construction worker.

beastie

/ ˈbiːstɪ /

noun

1. a small animal
2. informal.
   an insect

Word History and Origins

Origin of beastie¹

First recorded in 1775–85; beast + -ie

Example Sentences

Better to stick with your Swedish clogs and Ulla Johnson dresses, and your membership at the food co-op, than to risk the wrath of hungry, countryside-roaming alien beasties with terrible eyesight but supersensitive hearing.

From Time

Unlike “Epic RPG,” Karuta isn’t a numbers-driven stat grind full of beasties and catacombs.

From Washington Post

Gone were female-led and feminist-sympathetic bands like Nirvana and the Beastie Boys.

From The Daily Beast

In other words, the court seemed to agree with the Beastie Boys: The Japanese have a right to party.

From The Daily Beast

This version, one of the best yet, included hits from LL Cool J, Run DMC, the Beastie Boys, Outkast, Drake, Kanye West, and more.

From The Daily Beast

License to Ill by the Beastie Boys is another example of a record that is completely uninhibited.

From The Daily Beast

I blasted the Beastie Boys and chemically straightened my curls, drenching them with Sun-In until I, too, had long, golden waves.

From The Daily Beast

And wasn't he the provoked old beastie, though, when he saw that his rabbit supper was gone?

From Project Gutenberg

At last the earth gave way, and the “wee beastie” emerged from his den, with all his darts prepared for the charge.

From Project Gutenberg

"I do declar' he tak's more fash after yon little yaller beastie than iver he does after his own flesh," she muttered.

From Project Gutenberg

Any more than they did when Sir John Suckling apostrophised the "wee, sleekit, cow'rin', tim'rous beastie."

From Project Gutenberg

I have seen mony are o' them in Drumshorlin Muir; it is a little black beastie, about the size of my thoom-nail.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• animal
• creature
• wild animal