Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Abrupt and curt in manner or speech; discourteously blunt. See Synonyms at gruff.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
Wiktionary
- adj. Rudely abrupt, unfriendly.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Rough and prompt in manner; blunt; abrupt; bluff.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. marked by rude or peremptory shortness
Etymologies
- From French brusque, from Italian brusco ("rude, sharp, sour"); origin unknown. (Wiktionary)
- French, lively, fierce, from Italian brusco, coarse, rough, from Late Latin brūscum, perhaps blend of Latin rūscus, butcher's broom, and Late Latin brūcus, heather; see briar1. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“I suppose there would be no objection to the match if they do care for each other,' said Mrs. Wrottesley, in a manner that was often called brusque and had served to make her unpopular.”
“His abord and behaviour answered extremely well the idea M. d'Arblay had given us of him, who in the word brusque rather meant unpolished in manners than harsh in character.”
“He ischaracterized as brusque, taciturn, and often short-tempered demeanor.”
Stuart Townsend, Ray Stevensen and Tadanobu Asano Join Marvel’s Thor
“Service at Pfaffen could be charitably called brusque, and our waiter at zur Malzmühle was certainly cool.”
“Hard liquor is on the drink menu but the brusque is the draw, with nearly 30 brews poured.”
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“Britain - another would recall brusque, high-handed rudeness.”
“Mike's a she, the sixty-something widow of a military officer, Jewish, kind of brusque, but I like her.”
“Clooney criticizes Pope Benedict XVI for being too "brusque" about Islam, to borrow the term the Pope used for the words of the Byzantine emperor he quoted.”
“Very fast, or "brusque," foreign-exchange movements can be unwelcome, Mr. Bini Smaghi said.”
“There is a kind of brusque humor in his address, a downright heartiness, which reminds one of western character.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘brusque’.
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Test Prep or Just for fun
Building a list for standardized test prep or just for learning some new words! Please add any words that you feel are important for the SAT/GRE/GMAT etc...
throng, morass, parley, facile, kismet, strife, jetsam, carrion, annex, harbinger, vestige, surreptitious and 575 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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3/4 year Vocab List
voracious, indiscriminate, eminent, steeped, replete, awe, buffoon, abound, technology, prognosticate, automaton, matron and 96 more...
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3/4 year Vocab List
voracious, indiscriminate, eminent, steeped, replete, awe, buffoon, abound, technology, prognosticate, automaton, matron and 96 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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The Spoken Word
Words relating to Conversation
adage, adamant, brusque, candor, cavil, compelling, didactic, disparage, emphatic, facetious, frank, fulminate and 7 more...
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Previous GRE
churlish, martinet, polyglot, aplomb, dissembler, hack, dissimilitude, whit, histrionics, prevarication, pithy, aphorism and 16 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6689 more...
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Subconscious Personal Emotion
That which is disqualified.
crude, harsh, cynical, arrogant, disrespectful, critical, brusque, punitive, negative, judgmental, condescending., nosy
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Go over
mollify, obstinate, obviate, occlude, onerous, obscure, paragon, pedantic, perfunctory, placate, placid, prodigal and 364 more...
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aykut gre
mossy, intrusive, mettlesome, soliloquy, mocking, dissembler, prevarication, histrionics, aphorism, distinction, concise, pensive and 61 more...
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All The Words
I enjoy collecting words, for I have no fear of them ever running out.
tatterdemalion, panopticon, idioglossia, hypnagogue, hypnopomp, defenestration, anacoluthon, scofflaw, affront, edifying, palimpsest, naufrage and 475 more...
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What Do You Mean ?
U Gotta Know These.......
falter, ruddy, flounder, pallid, fumble, founder, labile, titular, tacit, pragmatic, fatalism, jaded and 112 more...
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Need to Know!
elicit, educe, refute, cogency, churlish, martinet, veritable, polyglot, dissemble, histrionics, prevarication, verbiage and 166 more...
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GRE Words
abjure, unswear, state, rescission, indemnification, ab, reny, abnegate, vitiated, vitiate, adumbrated, abash and 378 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for brusque.

Arthurpod "'Let's go.' Brusquely, (he) motioned for her to lead the way. She accepted his urgency with a nod, and started at once down the path"
Lord Foul's Bane, Chapter Five
Jul 29, 2012
aykutkaraalioglu it means rude Jul 17, 2012