brutish

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈbrutɪʃ/ UK /ˈbruːtɪʃ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
savagely violent, coarse, or animal-like

Life in the camp was brutish and short.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · savagely violent, coarse,... savage coarse beastly barbaric crude bestial uncouth

Opposites

civilized gentle refined cultured humane

Word family

Forms brutishness

Derived forms brutishlybrutishness

Related forms brute brutal brutality

Etymology

From brute (from Latin brutus, 'heavy, dull, irrational') + the adjectival suffix -ish.

brutus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# brutish

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

## Meanings
1. savagely violent, coarse, or animal-like

## Examples
- Life in the camp was brutish and short.

## Synonyms
- savage
- coarse
- beastly
- barbaric
- crude
- bestial
- uncouth

## Antonyms
- civilized
- gentle
- refined
- cultured
- humane

## Derived Forms
- brutishly
- brutishness

## Related Forms
- brute
- brutal
- brutality

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: brutus

## Etymology
From brute (from Latin brutus, 'heavy, dull, irrational') + the adjectival suffix -ish.

## AI Etymology
Brutish is an adjective meaning "savagely violent, coarse, or animal-like". Historically, it is from brute (from Latin brutus, 'heavy, dull, irrational') + the adjectival suffix -ish. The visible construction is part of the etymology: brutish is not just an unanalyzed simple word. The modern meaning, "savagely violent, coarse, or animal-like", follows the base word through the added English ending. The historical chain is anchored in Latin brutus. Close English family members include brutishly, brutishness, brute, brutal, and brutality.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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