brunt
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of brunt
1275–1325; Middle English; perhaps originally sexual assault; akin to Old Norse brundr, German Brunft heat, ruttish state, Old English brunetha heat, itching; cognate with Old High German bronado. See burn 1
Explanation
If you are the oldest child, you might bear the brunt of your parents' anger, even if you are not the instigator of the misdeed. Brunt means the worst part of something. When Canadian geese fly south, they travel in a V-formation, with the bird at point bearing the brunt of the headwind. One way to remember the word brunt is that words that sound like it—grunt and blunt—are also about being tough or absorbing pain.
Vocabulary lists containing brunt
Blizzard! Words to Learn on a Snow Day
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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The Diary of a Young Girl
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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.
He and business partner Brenton Reger are designing new barriers, bracing for the brunt of El Niño.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
Those families have been feeling the “direct brunt of higher energy prices eating into their paychecks,” Kim told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026
Support roles are predicted to bear the brunt as "AI makes our people more productive", the bank said, according to the paper.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
And they’re bearing the brunt of the system’s strains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
He hauled me over the edge, taking the brunt of my weight.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
