brusque

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /brʌsk/ UK /brʌsk/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
abrupt or curt in manner or speech

Her brusque reply made it clear the meeting was over.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · abrupt or curt in manner or... curt abrupt blunt gruff terse short crusty

Opposites

gracious courteous gentle affable polite

Word family

Forms brusquely

Derived forms brusquelybrusqueness

Related forms brisk

Simplified etymology

Brusque was adopted in the early 17th century from French, where it meant “lively” or “fierce.” The French word came from Italian brusco, meaning “sour.”

Etymology

From French brusque ('lively, rough'), from Italian brusco ('sharp, tart, brusque'), originally the name of a sharp-tasting plant (butcher's broom), from Late Latin bruscus.

brusque French brusco Italian

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# brusque

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /brʌsk/
**IPA (UK):** /brʌsk/

## Meanings
1. abrupt or curt in manner or speech

## Examples
- Her brusque reply made it clear the meeting was over.

## Synonyms
- curt
- abrupt
- blunt
- gruff
- terse
- short
- crusty

## Antonyms
- gracious
- courteous
- gentle
- affable
- polite

## Derived Forms
- brusquely
- brusqueness

## Related Forms
- brisk

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: brusque
- Root: brusco

## Etymology
From French brusque ('lively, rough'), from Italian brusco ('sharp, tart, brusque'), originally the name of a sharp-tasting plant (butcher's broom), from Late Latin bruscus.

## AI Etymology
Brusque comes from French brusque ('lively, rough'), from Italian brusco ('sharp, tart, brusque'), originally the name of a sharp-tasting plant (butcher's broom), from Late Latin bruscus. The historical trail runs through brusque in French and brusco in Italian. Used as an adjective, brusque now means "abrupt or curt in manner or speech", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as brusquely and brusqueness and related forms such as brisk. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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