bestiality

American  

[bes-chee-al-i-tee, bees-] / ˌbɛs tʃiˈæl ɪ ti, ˌbis- /

noun

plural

bestialities

1. brutish or beastly character or behavior; beastliness.

2. indulgence in beastlike appetites, instincts, impulses, etc.

3. an instance of bestial character or behavior.

4. sexual relations between a person and an animal; sodomy.

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bestiality British  

/ ˌbɛstɪˈælɪtɪ /

noun

1. bestial behaviour, character, or action

2. sexual activity between a person and an animal

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Etymology

Origin of bestiality

1350–1400; Middle English bestial ( i ) te (< Anglo-French, Middle French ) < Medieval Latin bēstiālitās. See bestial, -ity

Example Sentences

Hence war, hence adultery, hence bestiality, Tim continues.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026

“Elite panic” is the sociological term for it, when wealthy people are convinced that the peasants will dissolve into bestiality and preemptively start shooting anyone who wanders into their neighborhoods during a crisis.

From Slate • Oct. 13, 2020

The invasion, as historians recall, worked because, at that moment, there was a genuine impulse, however scarred by national rivalries, to intervene on behalf of humanity against bestiality.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 6, 2019

The Greek authorities banned Katidis from playing in national teams for life while condemning him for insulting "the victims of Nazi bestiality" and "injuring the deeply pacifist and human character of the game".

From The Guardian • Apr. 1, 2013

Into his speech crept a rude eloquence, for he voiced a sincere passion, though debased by his inherent bestiality.

From Heart of the Blue Ridge by Baily, Waldron