brute

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brute

a beast; a brutal person; savage; cruel

Not to be confused with:

brut – very dry, as champagne

brute

(bro͞ot)

1. An animal other than a human; a beast.

2. A brutal, crude, or insensitive person.

adj.

1. Of or relating to animals other than humans: "None of the brute creation requires more than food and shelter" (Henry David Thoreau).

2. Characteristic of a brute, especially:

a. Entirely physical: brute force.

b. Lacking or showing a lack of reason or intelligence: a brute impulse.

c. Savage; cruel: brute coercion.

d. Unremittingly severe: was driven to steal food through brute necessity.

3. Coarse; brutish.

[From Middle English, nonhuman, from Old French brut, from Latin brūtus, stupid; see g^werə- in Indo-European roots.]

brut′ism n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

brute

(bruːt)

a. any animal except man; beast; lower animal

b. (as modifier): brute nature.

2. a brutal person

adj (prenominal)

3. wholly instinctive or physical (esp in the phrases brute strength, brute force)

4. without reason or intelligence

5. coarse and grossly sensual

[C15: from Latin brūtus heavy, irrational; related to gravis heavy]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

brute

(brut)

n.

1. a nonhuman creature; beast.

2. a savage, insensitive, or crude person.

3. the animal qualities, desires, etc., of humankind: to bring out the brute in someone.

adj.

4. animal; not human.

5. not intelligent; irrational.

6. savage; cruel: brute force.

7. carnal; sensual.

[1375–1425; late Middle English < Middle French < Latin brūtus heavy, devoid of feeling, irrational]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	brute - a cruelly rapacious person beast, savage, wildcat, wolf aggressor, assailant, assaulter, attacker - someone who attacks
	2.	brute - a living organism characterized by voluntary movement animal, animate being, beast, creature, fauna organism, being - a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently ritual killing, sacrifice - the act of killing (an animal or person) in order to propitiate a deity tracking, trailing - the pursuit (of a person or animal) by following tracks or marks they left behind animal kingdom, Animalia, kingdom Animalia - taxonomic kingdom comprising all living or extinct animals pest - any unwanted and destructive insect or other animal that attacks food or crops or livestock etc.; "he sprayed the garden to get rid of pests"; "many pests have developed resistance to the common pesticides" critter - a regional term for `creature' (especially for domestic animals) creepy-crawly - an animal that creeps or crawls (such as worms or spiders or insects) darter - a person or other animal that moves abruptly and rapidly; "squirrels are darters" peeper - an animal that makes short high-pitched sounds homeotherm, homoiotherm, homotherm - an animal that has a body temperature that is relatively constant and independent of the environmental temperature ectotherm, poikilotherm - an animal whose body temperature varies with the temperature of its surroundings; any animal except birds and mammals range animal - any animal that lives and grazes in the grassy open land of western North America (especially horses, cattle, sheep) varment, varmint - any usually predatory wild animal considered undesirable; e.g., coyote scavenger - any animal that feeds on refuse and other decaying organic matter work animal - an animal trained for and used for heavy labor domestic animal, domesticated animal - any of various animals that have been tamed and made fit for a human environment feeder - an animal that feeds on a particular source of food; "a bark feeder"; "a mud feeder" migrator - an animal (especially birds and fish) that travels between different habitats at particular times of the year molter, moulter - an animal (especially birds and arthropods and reptiles) that periodically shed their outer layer (feathers or cuticle or skin or hair) pet - a domesticated animal kept for companionship or amusement stayer - a person or other animal having powers of endurance or perseverance; "the horse that won the race is a good stayer" stunt - a creature (especially a whale) that has been prevented from attaining full growth marine animal, marine creature, sea animal, sea creature - any of numerous animals inhabiting the sea including e.g. fishes and molluscs and many mammals female - an animal that produces gametes (ova) that can be fertilized by male gametes (spermatozoa) male - an animal that produces gametes (spermatozoa) that can fertilize female gametes (ova) adult - any mature animal young, offspring - any immature animal pureblood, purebred, thoroughbred - a pedigreed animal of unmixed lineage; used especially of horses giant - any creature of exceptional size survivor - an animal that survives in spite of adversity; "only the fittest animals were survivors of the cold winters" mutant - an animal that has undergone mutation herbivore - any animal that feeds chiefly on grass and other plants; "horses are herbivores"; "the sauropod dinosaurs were apparently herbivores" insectivore - any organism that feeds mainly on insects acrodont - an animal having teeth consolidated with the summit of the alveolar ridge without sockets pleurodont - an animal having teeth fused with the inner surface of the alveolar ridge without sockets microorganism, micro-organism - any organism of microscopic size actinomycete - any bacteria (some of which are pathogenic for humans and animals) belonging to the order Actinomycetales zooplankton - animal constituent of plankton; mainly small crustaceans and fish larvae conceptus, fertilized egg, embryo - an animal organism in the early stages of growth and differentiation that in higher forms merge into fetal stages but in lower forms terminate in commencement of larval life chordate - any animal of the phylum Chordata having a notochord or spinal column invertebrate - any animal lacking a backbone or notochord; the term is not used as a scientific classification metazoan - any animal of the subkingdom Metazoa; all animals except protozoans and sponges omnivore - an animal that feeds on both animal and vegetable substances predatory animal, predator - any animal that lives by preying on other animals prey, quarry - animal hunted or caught for food game - animal hunted for food or sport
Adj.	1.	brute - resembling a beast; showing lack of human sensibility; "beastly desires"; "a bestial nature"; "brute force"; "a dull and brutish man"; "bestial treatment of prisoners" bestial, brutish, beastly, brutal inhumane - lacking and reflecting lack of pity or compassion; "humans are innately inhumane; this explains much of the misery and suffering in the world"; "biological weapons are considered too inhumane to be used"

brute

noun

1. savage, devil, monster, beast, barbarian, fiend, swine, ogre, ghoul, sadist a drunken brute

2. beast, animal, creature, wild animal a big brute of a dog

adjective

1. physical, bodily, mindless, instinctive, senseless, unthinking He used brute force to take control.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

إِنْسانٌ قاسٍوَحْش

suroveczvíře

børstebrutalkrærå

Vieh animalisch brachial brutal Rohling

bruto

eläinelukkaraakalainen

brute bête

fantur, óòokkiskepna

bruto bestiale brutale brutalit...brutalmente

brutalumasbrutalusžvėriškas

brutāls cilvēksdzīvniecisksdzīvnieka-dzīvniekslops

bølle brutal fyr udyr umenneske

животное скотина

hayvanhayvanîzalim kimse

残忍的人畜生

brute

[bruːt]

A. N (= animal) → bestia f; (= person) → bruto/a m/f, bestia mf
you brute! → ¡bestia!, ¡animal!
it's a brute of a problem → es un problema de los más feos

B. ADJ [force, strength] → bruto; [fact] → crudo; [emotion] → tosco

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

brute

[ˈbruːt]

n → brute f

adj [force, strength] → brutal(e)
by brute force → par la force

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

brute

→ Tier nt, → Vieh nt (pej)

(= person) → brutaler Kerl; (= savage) → Bestie f; drink brings out the brute in him → Alkohol bringt das Tier in ihm zum Vorschein

(inf, = thing) it’s a brute of a problem → es ist ein höllisches Problem (inf); this nail’s a real brute (to get out) → dieser Nagel geht höllisch schwer raus (inf)

adj attr strength → roh; passion → tierisch, viehisch (pej); by brute force → mit roher Gewalt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

brute

[bruːt]

1. n (animal) → bestia; (person) → bruto
you brute! → mostro!

2. adj (force, strength) → bruto/a
by brute force → a viva forza, con la forza

brute

(bruːt) noun

1. an animal other than man. My dog died yesterday, the poor brute; (also adjective) brute force.

2. a cruel person.

ˈbrutal adjective

very cruel or severe. a brutal beating.

bruˈtality (-ˈtӕ-) noun

ˈbrutish adjective

of, or like, a brute. brutish manners.

References in classic literature ?

Sola stared into the brute's wicked-looking eyes, muttered a word or two of command, pointed to me, and left the chamber.

The work had evidently been wrought by a master hand, so subtle the atmosphere, so perfect the technique; yet nowhere was there a representation of a living animal, either human or brute, by which I could guess at the likeness of these other and perhaps extinct denizens of Mars.

View in context

Thrice had they caught fleeting glimpses of great man-like figures like that of the first night, but never at sufficiently close range to know positively whether the half-seen forms were those of man or brute.

View in context

Whereas, a few years since, he would have met the brute rush with brute force, he now sidestepped his antagonist's headlong charge, and as the brute hurtled past him swung a mighty right to the pit of the ape's stomach.

View in context

(for so I shall henceforth call him), and his children, and every servant of his house, were desirous to teach me; for they looked upon it as a prodigy, that a brute animal should discover such marks of a rational creature.

View in context

A dozen times he scrambled up the trunks like a huge cat only to fall back to the ground once more, and with each failure he cast a horrified glance over his shoulder at the oncoming brute, simultaneously emitting terror-stricken shrieks that awoke the echoes of the grim forest.

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It was evident that they could not comprehend why it was that this savage brute did not turn upon me and rend me.

View in context

A burly brute with all the refined intelligence of a gorilla stamped upon his bestial face was attempting to push a smaller man to second place, but the smaller one appealed to the high priestess, who in a cold peremptory voice sent the larger to the extreme end of the line.

View in context

The most sturdy and furious of the bulls trembled at the alarming and unknown cry, and then each individual brute was seen madly pressing from that very thicket, which, the moment before, he had endeavoured to reach, with the eagerness with which the murderer seeks the sanctuary.

View in context

She saw the carnivore brushed aside as he was almost upon her, and in the instant she realized that no substanceless wraith could thus turn the charge of a maddened lion with brute force greater than the brute's.

View in context

I had been too much occupied with the dangers of the descent to glance down toward the valley; but that cry which told me that it was indeed Lys, and that she was again in danger, brought my eyes quickly upon her in time to see a hairy, burly brute seize her and start off at a run toward the near-by wood.

View in context

At first I had a shivering horror of the brutes, felt all too keenly that they were still brutes; but insensibly I became a little habituated to the idea of them, and moreover I was affected by Montgomery's attitude towards them.