beastly
Americanadjective
-
of or like a beast; bestial.
-
Informal. nasty; unpleasant; disagreeable.
- Synonyms:
- disgusting, mean, foul, vile, hateful, abominable
adverb
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Chiefly British Informal. very; exceedingly.
It's beastly cold out.
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British Informal. disagreeably; outrageously.
beastly rude.
adjective
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informal unpleasant; disagreeable; nasty
beastly weather
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obsolete of or like a beast; bestial
adverb
Usage
What does beastly mean? Beastly is used to describe a person or behavior that’s nasty, vile, or cruel. The word beast sometimes simply means a large animal, but it’s also often used to refer to a kind of monster. This sense of the word is sometimes used figuratively to refer to a person in a way that likens them to a monster and implies that they behave in a crude, brutish, or animalistic way. This is often what’s implied by the word beastly. Beastly can also mean unpleasant or disagreeable, as in beastly weather. In British English, beastly is sometimes used as an informal intensifier to mean very, extremely, or outrageously, as in It’s beastly cold out there or That was a beastly rude thing to do. In this case, beastly is used as an adverb, rather than an adjective. Example: We condemn this beastly attack and the terrorists who perpetrated it.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of beastly
1175–1225; Middle English beasteliche, later be ( e ) stly. See beast, -ly ( def. )
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:
It’s the dog days of summer, with beastly heat, no proper holidays, and an abysmal history.
From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2026
"I've sometimes been accused of degrading mankind, or insulting human dignity, of making man beastly," he said.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026
For centuries, the Greek Gorgon Medusa has been cast as a vicious monster, a beastly woman with writhing snakes for hair and a deadly gaze that turns living creatures to stone.
From New York Times ● May 25, 2024
The use of the word "ugly" to describe a character will also be changed, such as in the case of the character Mrs Twit in "The Twits," who will now be called "beastly" instead.
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2023
He was behaving with the beastly selfishness of Man, taking all he could get from one quarter, and then, when that was used, going to another.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
As a zombie, his utterances make him seem beastlier than ever to the other humans he encounters.
From Salon ● Feb. 1, 2026
As the wolf is to the wildcat—the lobos defeated Davidson’s felines in the second round—the tiger is to the wolf: bigger and beastlier.
From Slate ● Mar. 23, 2012
Life somewhat better might content him, But for the gleam of heavenly light which Thou hast lent him: He calls it Reason—thence his power's increased, To be far beastlier than any beast.
From Faust by Bayard Taylor
Did I not say, when I was arranging that affair of Faust's, that all Man's reason has done for him is to make him beastlier than any beast.
From Man and Superman by Bernard Shaw
He calls it Reason—thence his power's increased To be far beastlier than any beast.
From The History of Dartmouth College by Baxter Perry Smith
The TLS editor, Stig Abell, protested that exposure had been achieved in the beastliest sort of way, involving money, as opposed to via the more agreeable, practical criticism.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 8, 2016
And most of all, they had Marshawn Lynch, the beastliest runner in the game.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 2, 2015
And then there’s the mobster Isaac, who speaks in his refined accent about the beauty of the opera but may be the beastliest beast of all.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2012
Now when you're traveling, one of the beastliest things is to have to listen to the blare of someone's portable radio.
From Time Magazine Archive
It’s one of the beastliest things I ever heard.
From The Gold Bat by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse
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.
