brutish

[ broo-tish ]

/ ˈbru tɪʃ /

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See synonyms for: brutish / brutishly / brutishness on Thesaurus.com

adjective

brutal; cruel.

gross; coarse.

carnal; sensual.

uncivilized.

bestial; like an animal.

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Origin of brutish

First recorded in 1485–95; brute¹ + -ish¹

OTHER WORDS FROM brutish

brut·ish·ly, adverbbrut·ish·ness, noun

Words nearby brutish

brutalize, brute, brute force, brute-force attack, brutify, brutish, Brutus, Brutus is an honorable man, brux, Bruxelles, bruxism

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use brutish in a sentence

From archaeological reconstructions of Neanderthals as stooped, hairy and brutish, to “cavemen” movies, our ancient ancestors got bad press.
Six Recent Discoveries That Have Changed How We Think About Human Origins|Penny Spikins|October 9, 2022|Singularity Hub
Perhaps her sensibility toward comics as a woman who wasn’t always the primary target for the brash masculinity of the ’90s had mellowed her to some of the brutish standards of the period.
‘Y: The Last Man’ Is a New Blockbuster TV Series Challenging Gender Identity|Tirhakah Love|September 10, 2021|The Daily Beast
The story was so appalling, the attack so brutish and morally offensive, that it provoked an immediate, furious response.
Why It Was Right to Question Rolling Stone’s U-VA Rape Story|Michael Moynihan|December 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Think of it as the Jersey Shore exception, where you can act like a brutish goon and the first bust is essentially a do-over.
Ray Rice Should Have Remembered His 'Kindness' Anti-Bullying Wristband|Michael Daly|September 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Sprewell also joins one of cogs in Pat Riley’s brutish ‘90s teams in racking up massive amounts of debt.
Guns, Blow Jobs, and Choke Holds: a History of the New York Knicks|Robert Silverman|February 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The process of Republican change is going be what we might call a two-thirds Hobbes: nasty, brutish, and long.
The GOP’s Inept Autopsy|Michael Tomasky|March 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Yet the brutish rhetoric inevitably coming from GOP opponents will only alienate Hispanics even more than they already are.
Obama Realigns, the GOP Declines: The New Political Paradigm|Robert Shrum|February 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Courage, that a poor private carrying a musket has to spare of; that does not fail a weasel or a rat; that is a brutish faculty?
The Pocket R.L.S.|Robert Louis Stevenson
A brutish Indian; a favorite expression of the Limeños when speaking of the Indians, who certainly do not merit the compliment.
Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests|J. J. von Tschudi
I do grace him as much as I may, for I find him marvellous greedy to do anything to recover the conceit of his brutish offence.'
Sir Walter Ralegh|William Stebbing
These two children were full of vices—the little girl was untruthful, the boy brutish.
Bouvard and Pcuchet, part 2|Gustave Flaubert
Are there gods, yet suffer Such innocent sweetness to be made the spoil Of brutish violence?
The Plays of Philip Massinger|Philip Massinger

British Dictionary definitions for brutish

brutish

/ (ˈbruːtɪʃ) /

adjective

of, relating to, or resembling a brute or brutes; animal

coarse; cruel; stupid

Derived forms of brutish

brutishly, adverbbrutishness, noun

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

brutish

Origin of brutish

OTHER WORDS FROM brutish

Words nearby brutish

Words related to brutish

How to use brutish in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for brutish

Derived forms of brutish