brutal

[broot-l]

See more synonyms for brutal on Thesaurus.com

adjective

savage; cruel; inhuman: a brutal attack on the village.
crude; coarse: brutal language.
harsh; ferocious: brutal criticism; brutal weather.

taxing, demanding, or exhausting: They're having a brutal time making ends meet.
irrational; unreasoning.
of or relating to lower animals.

Origin of brutal

1425–75; late Middle English (< Middle French) < Medieval Latin brūtālis. See brute¹, -al¹

Related formsbru·tal·ly, adverbhy·per·bru·tal, adjectivehy·per·bru·tal·ly, adverbnon·bru·tal, adjectivenon·bru·tal·ly, adverbo·ver·bru·tal, adjectiveo·ver·bru·tal·ly, adverb

Synonyms for brutal

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1. ferocious, brutish, barbarous. 2. gross, rude, rough, uncivil. 6. bestial, beastly, animal.

Synonym study

1. See cruel.

Antonyms for brutal

1. kind. 6. human.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for brutally

viciously, fiercely, savagely, mercilessly, relentlessly, ferociously, ruthlessly, meanly, atrociously, barbarically, barbarously, callously, diabolically, heartlessly, inexorably, inhumanely, inhumanly, pitilessly, unkindly

Examples from the Web for brutally

Contemporary Examples of brutally

There is a brutally honest section of the book about how you fell out of love with your wife, and essentially chose soccer.
Tim Howard’s Wall of Intensity
William O’Connor
December 22, 2014
The course Jackson taught at VMI, “Natural and Experimental Philosophy,” was brutally difficult.
Stonewall Jackson, VMI’s Most Embattled Professor
S. C. Gwynne
November 29, 2014
It was a brutally hot day, 103 degrees, and the city was on the verge of a racial explosion.
Honoring The Late John Doar, A Nearly Forgotten Hero Of The Civil Rights Era
Gary May
November 15, 2014
Instead they allegedly went crazy in the streets of Cambridge, assaulting strangers and brutally raping one young man.
Libyan Troops Go Wild in England
Nico Hines
November 4, 2014
Brutally, Ms. Grande, to be a true diva you need to have lived a bit.
Ariana Grande, This Is How to Be a Diva
Tim Teeman
October 21, 2014

Historical Examples of brutally

"You will find that you are up against a hell of a frost," she would declare, brutally.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
He paused for an instant, then spoke in a voice that was brutally menacing.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
The guard tugged at it brutally to bring it within range of his vision.
Slaves of Mercury
Nat Schachner
But to be good and brutally frank about it, what she suffers just now doesn't count with me.
The Harbor
Ernest Poole
"We want to go upstairs into your rooms," Macquart said to her brutally.
The Fortune of the Rougons
Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for brutally

brutal

adjective

cruel; vicious; savage
extremely honest or coarse in speech or manner
harsh; severe; extremebrutal cold

Derived Formsbrutality, nounbrutally, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for brutally

brutal

adj.

mid-15c., in reference to the nature of animals, from Latin brutus (see brute (adj.)) + -al (1). Of persons, "fierce," 1640s. Related: Brutally.