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Etymology
Origin of brutality
Explanation
Brutality is extreme cruelty, deliberate violent meanness. Avoid being the giver or receiver of brutality if you wish to remain a happy human. Brutality comes from brutal (savage, fierce), plus -ity which makes it a noun. It’s the state of being a brute. Many criminals — especially murderers, rapists, and abusers — are guilty of brutality. Police brutality is what happens when the cops use extreme unnecessary force. Brutality is a strong word — just slapping someone isn't quite brutality. Brutality is more like beating a person with a tire iron. Brutality is also the name of a death metal band from Florida.
Vocabulary lists containing brutality
Bronx Masquerade
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All American Boys
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The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
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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:
As the author’s career rose astronomically after the Booker Prize, he gained a reputation for writing the kind of brutality readers can’t brush past.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
In 2016, former American football player Colin Kaepernick sat down and later knelt on one knee during the anthem as a demonstration against police brutality and racism in the US.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
The police has launched 10 internal investigations into allegations of brutality since they started, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said late Monday.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
Some backdrops were creepy set dressing, while others had tactile brutality — Sphere often had the rumble-seat effect blaring.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
She could mean that this is a reminder to us of the unjustness and brutality of the regime.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
The toxins bred in his mind by the brutalities of war cannot be eradicated, even if he can describe his sufferings with such deceptively majestic language.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
A couple of the most striking shots of the original two "Godfather" movies, for instance, juxtaposes the brutalities of America in the foreground while the Statue of Liberty stands tall in the distant background.
From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2024
For many, Garland’s announcement and the brutalities uncovered in the investigation are likely to be met with myriad emotions.
From Slate ● Mar. 13, 2023
But efforts to come to terms with the brutalities from one of the bloodiest wars in modern history have triggered intense emotions in both the United States and South Korea.
From New York Times ● Feb. 7, 2023
For Christmas, Mrs. Levy always compiled not a gift list but rather a list of the injustices and brutalities she had suffered since August.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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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.
