1
: resembling, befitting, or typical of a brute or beast
brutish strength
brutish violence
But its skull is curiously brutish, with thickened braincase walls, massive browridges, and evidence of powerful neck muscles. All in all, H. erectus fits the familiar stereotype of the … caveman.—
Matt Cartmill
Matt Cartmill2
a
: strongly and grossly sensual
brutish gluttony
He thinks he is a poetic amorist; he is a brutish sensualist.—Stanley Kauffmann
Stanley Kauffmann
b
: showing little intelligence or sensibility
a brutish lack of understanding
Life without enlightenment is nasty and brutish, yet it is the natural condition …—Frank Kermode
Frank Kermode
brutishly
adverb
brutishness
noun
Synonyms
Examples of brutish in a Sentence
She is married to a brutish, drunken slob.
as the months of recurrent combat dragged on, the daily existence of the soldiers became increasingly brutish
Recent Examples on the Web
Some of the settlers are driven by fear, some by zealotry and others by the promises of limitless wealth, but in this moment, life is unquestionably solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Jan. 2025
Lisa develops a crush on him, fueled mainly by her realization that Bergstrom’s sensitivity and love of learning fill needs that her often brutish and anti-intellectual dad isn’t equipped to handle.
—Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 17 Dec. 2024
That's making those races nasty, brutish and anything but short.
—Hans Nichols, Axios, 5 Dec. 2024
So just as Boule didn’t create this image [of the brutish Neanderthal] alone, it wasn’t destroyed by one scientist alone, but instead was more of a confluence of factors that happened all around the same time.
—Byrd Pinkerton, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
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Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Jan. 2025
Lisa develops a crush on him, fueled mainly by her realization that Bergstrom’s sensitivity and love of learning fill needs that her often brutish and anti-intellectual dad isn’t equipped to handle.
—Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 17 Dec. 2024
That's making those races nasty, brutish and anything but short.
—Hans Nichols, Axios, 5 Dec. 2024
So just as Boule didn’t create this image [of the brutish Neanderthal] alone, it wasn’t destroyed by one scientist alone, but instead was more of a confluence of factors that happened all around the same time.
—Byrd Pinkerton, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
See all Example Sentences for brutish
Dictionary Entries Near brutish
Cite this Entry
“Brutish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brutish. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
brutish
adjective
brut·ish
ˈbrüt-ish 
1
: resembling, befitting, or typical of a brute or beast
lived a hard and brutish life
2
b
: showing little intelligence or sense
brutish lack of understanding
brutishly
adverb
brutishness
noun
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