as in brute
having or showing the nature and appetites of a lower animal
as the months of recurrent combat dragged on, the daily existence of the soldiers became increasingly brutish
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Recent Examples of brutish
The pure of heart among you may recoil at the notion that anyone would sow brutish chaos, hurt vulnerable people and throw any semblance of democracy under the bus for a churlish, vicious distraction.
—
Pat Beall, Sun Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2025
Hardy has big blue eyes and a boyish-looking face, which balance out Luke’s brutish body language.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 31 July 2025
From the earliest days of Greek drama Herakles is ridiculed for his brutish way of eating his food, his preference for a good meal versus a good woman and, in Aristophanes’s The Bird, even his reluctance to leave a barbecue in order to help save his own father.
—John Mariani, Forbes.com, 25 July 2025
The silver lining in all of this, if there is one, is that a recognition of the nasty and brutish new normal may yet mobilize the political support needed to make a dent in global emissions.
—Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Foreign Affairs, 31 July 2018
See All Example Sentences for brutish
Pat Beall, Sun Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2025
Hardy has big blue eyes and a boyish-looking face, which balance out Luke’s brutish body language.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 31 July 2025
From the earliest days of Greek drama Herakles is ridiculed for his brutish way of eating his food, his preference for a good meal versus a good woman and, in Aristophanes’s The Bird, even his reluctance to leave a barbecue in order to help save his own father.
—John Mariani, Forbes.com, 25 July 2025
The silver lining in all of this, if there is one, is that a recognition of the nasty and brutish new normal may yet mobilize the political support needed to make a dent in global emissions.
—Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Foreign Affairs, 31 July 2018
See All Example Sentences for brutish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutish
Adjective
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These models typically rely on simplification or brute-force computation, often at the cost of accuracy.—
Somnath Banerjee,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
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The new system avoids this brute-force approach.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Take the quiz here … KICKED TO THE CURB – Super Bowl hero cut from 49ers roster after brutal Week 1 performance.—
,
FOXNews.com,
11 Sep. 2025
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While released, Horton committed another horrific crime – a brutal home invasion and rape.—
Briah Lumpkins,
Charlotte Observer,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Brutish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutish. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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