brute

¹ American  

[broot] / brut /

noun

• brutes
  plural

1. a nonhuman creature; beast.

2. a brutal, insensitive, or crude person.

3. the animal qualities, desires, etc., of humankind.

   Father felt that rough games brought out the brute in us.

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adjective

1. animal; not human.

2. not characterized by intelligence or reason; irrational.

3. characteristic of animals; of brutal character or quality.

4. savage; cruel.

   brute force.

5. carnal; sensual.

brute ² American  

[broot] / brut /

verb (used with object)

bruted, bruting

1. to shape (a diamond) by rubbing with another diamond or a diamond chip.

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brute British  

/ bruːt /

noun

1. 1. any animal except man; beast; lower animal

   2. ( as modifier )

      brute nature

2. a brutal person

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adjective

1. wholly instinctive or physical (esp in the phrases brute strength, brute force )

2. without reason or intelligence

3. coarse and grossly sensual

Synonym Usage

See animal.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• bruteness
  noun
• brutelike
  adjective
• brutely
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• brutes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of brute¹

First recorded in 1425–50; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin brūtus “heavy, devoid of feeling, irrational”

Origin of brute²

First recorded in 1900–05; back formation from bruting “rough hewing (of a diamond),” partial translation of French brutage literally, “a roughing,” equivalent to brut “rough, raw” + -age; see origin at brute ¹, -age

Explanation

His road rage may turn your dad into a brute when he gets behind the wheel. A brute is a person who is as ferocious as a wild animal. A violent, savage person can be described as a brute, and so can a wild animal. Someone who's less monstrous but is still unpleasant can also be a brute, and it can be used as an adjective to mean, basically, "brutal." If it's more animal than human, you can call it brute, like the brute power of an invading army. The Latin brutus, "heavy, dull, or stupid," gave rise to brute, which through the 15th century only referred to animals.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

brute brutes bruted bruting

The stand-out villain of “The Furious,” a bald bruiser played by Orange County-born Brian Le, moves like an 8-bit video game brute, wobbling his ankles before he falls down and goes boom.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026

If you spot a guy swaggering like a brute from Eternia on the sidewalk, masked or not, he probably thinks he’s more awesome than everyone else does.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026

The question is how much difference the pronouncements of a priest can make in a world of brute force and fraying rules.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026

It was not just about brute force, though, there were deft touches too.

From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026

Even in chains, Mormont looked dangerous, a hulking brute with big, thick arms and sloped shoulders.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

Except from behind the windshield, where he views the world as teeming with schemers and brutes, acting on all manner of Machiavellian impulses.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2025

But it made a few of the par 4s, such as the 490-yard first and the 465-yard fifth, play like brutes.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 11, 2024

Those Black people who survived the living hell of the Middle Passage and then centuries of enslavement and brutalization were not an undifferentiated mass of brutes as conceptualized by the white popular imagination.

From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2023

His uncompromising hostility toward revolutionaries inspired Thomas Paine to remark in 1776, “Even brutes do not devour their young, nor savages make war upon their families.”

From National Geographic ● Jul. 3, 2023

“The brutes I was with called him Ferrandini. Do you think he knows how to make that Italian dish we ate in Mississippi?”

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

The newes of the taking of king Richard was anon bruted and blowne ouer all Germanie, wherevpon the emperour Henrie the sixt, the sonne of 1193.

From Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (2 of 6): England (6 of 12) Richard the First by Raphael Holinshed

The like forged inuencion haue thei wrote, of the migh- The battaill of Troie .x. yeres for a herlotte. tie and terrible battaill bruted of Troie, for a beautifull har- lot susteined ten yeres.

From A booke called the Foundacion of Rhetorike because all other partes of Rhetorike are grounded thereupon, euery parte sette forthe in an Oracion vpon questions, verie profitable to bee knowen and redde by Richard Rainolde

The fame and glorie of Britaine. to see this noble Islande of Britain, whose fame for nobilitée was knowen and bruted, not onelie in Rome, but also in the vttermoste lādes.

From A booke called the Foundacion of Rhetorike because all other partes of Rhetorike are grounded thereupon, euery parte sette forthe in an Oracion vpon questions, verie profitable to bee knowen and redde by Richard Rainolde

The newes of whose imprisonment was anon bruted through the realme, wherewith the Nobles fretted, and the commons curssed: finallie all men detested such tyrannie in the chancellour.

From Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (2 of 6): England (6 of 12) Richard the First by Raphael Holinshed

The wisedome of the Duke also was wonderfully extolled and commended of all men, the fame whereof was increased and bruted throughout the Region of Italy.

From The Palace of Pleasure Volume 3 by William Painter

Stones of fancy shape, such as square, or cushion shape, have to be formed in part by hand rubbing or "bruting" as it is called.

From A Text-Book of Precious Stones for Jewelers and the Gem-Loving Public by Frank Bertram Wade

Related Words

• beast
• critter
• lout