BRUTAL


Meaning of BRUTAL in English

ˈbrüd. ə l, -üt ə l adjective

( sometimes -er/-est )

Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French or Medieval Latin; Middle French, from Medieval Latin brutalis, from brutus brute, animal + Latin -alis -al — more at brute

1. archaic : of, belonging to, or typical of beasts or animals as distinguished from man : animal

thee, Serpent … to me so friendly grown above the rest of brutal kind — John Milton

2. : befitting or resembling a brute: as

a. : stemming from or based on crude animal instincts : grossly ruthless

a brutal attack

b. : devoid of mercy or compassion : cruel and cold-blooded

blunt and occasionally brutal , but … never niggling and peevish — Cleanth Brooks

c. : harsh and severe : unpleasant to a degree that is nearly unbearable

another summer of brutal heat

two brutal winters in a row

d. : unpleasantly accurate and incisive : undeniable but harsh

the brutal truth

the brutal facts must be faced and action taken

Synonyms:

brutish , bestial , feral , beastly , brute : brutal stresses sensuality, coarse cruelty, or crude grossness, always without the alleviation of normal human moderation, reticence, sympathy, mercy, or consideration of others

Constance Kent was rather a beauty — a nice girl with an engaging air; yet she cut her little brother's throat in a thoroughly brutal manner — W.H.Wright

brutal Ode and St. Dunstan force their rude way into the quiet room, and hurl coarse insults at the sweet-faced queen — J.K.Jerome

brutish stresses either gross sensuality completely unchecked or utter animal stupidity unenlightened by even faint human intelligence

in the mines and factories an indiscriminate sexual intercourse of the most brutish kind was the only relief from the tedium and drudgery of the day — Lewis Mumford

it requires wisdom to liberate ourselves from natural brutish stupidity and enslaving passions — M.R.Cohen

bestial usually indicates either a complete lack of human intelligence and refinement or an utter lustful depravity

they were much impressed with the size and bestial ferocity of the niggers whom they had now learned to call “Paythans” — Rudyard Kipling

he is a thief, a murderer, a defiler, a bestial, lecherous dog — Rafael Sabatini

feral stresses wild fury and ferocity like a wild beast's

her wrath, savage and feral, utterly possessed her. She was like a wild animal, cornered and conscious of defeat — W.H.Wright

beastly may imply beastlike indelicacy, cruelty, or sensuality

some woman, coarse and low and vulgar, some beastly creature in whom all the horror of sex is blatant — W.S.Maugham

systematic mutilation of the body rendered the crime particularly beastly — Earl of Birkenhead b. 1907

Often it simply implies irritation or disgust on the speaker's part

she can't eat the soup — no more can I. It's beastly. — W.M.Thackeray

brute may connote cruelty or stupidity

the brute mentality of the clods who constitute the parish — A.J.Cronin

murdered, along the coast of Lincolnshire, out of brute spite — Charles Kingsley

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.