Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of or resembling a beast; bestial.
  • adjective Very disagreeable; unpleasant.
  • adverb To an extreme degree; very.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In the manner of a beast; filthily; abominably.
  • Natural; animal: the opposite of spiritual.
  • Like a beast in form or nature; animal.
  • Like a beast in conduct or instincts; brutal; filthy; coarse.
  • Befitting a beast; unfit for human use; filthy; abominable.
  • Nasty; disagreeable: as, beastly weather.
  • Synonyms Brutal, Bestial, etc. See brute.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Pertaining to, or having the form, nature, or habits of, a beast.
  • adjective Characterizing the nature of a beast; contrary to the nature and dignity of man; brutal; filthy.
  • adjective Colloq. Eng. Abominable.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Pertaining to, or having the form, nature, or habits of a beast.
  • adjective Characterizing the nature of a beast; contrary to the nature and dignity of man; brutal; filthy.
  • adjective Abominable
  • adverb obsolete Like a beast; brutishly.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective very unpleasant
  • adjective resembling a beast; showing lack of human sensibility
  • adverb in a beastly manner

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From beast +‎ -ly.

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Examples

  • Well, actually, the term beastly means beastly for a reason: because this is how beasts behave.

    Independent.ie - Frontpage RSS Feed 2010

  • To such a being the golden gates are closed; and the Easterners, whom he despised for what he termed their beastly lethargies, have taught me the real secret of the poppy.

    The Yellow Claw Sax Rohmer 1921

  • We cross lakes in beastly winds, whitecaps slopping over the sides of the canoes, then grind out in bony streambeds where the water dribbles through hundreds of yards of boulder and cobble.

    Field and Stream Adventure: The Search for the Best Brook Trout Spot on Earth 2004

  • I say, I beg your pardon, frightfully — I'm afraid I'm bein 'beastly long-winded.

    Whose Body? Dorothy Leigh 1923

  • "What do you call the beastly stuff?" asked Telson.

    The Willoughby Captains Talbot Baines Reed 1872

  • "They would have been glad enough of some of the weather you call beastly," said Hester, again pulling through a stiff needle, this time without any smile, for sometimes that brother was more than she could bear.

    Weighed and Wanting George MacDonald 1864

  • Highlands, as they call their beastly wildernesses, (no offence again,)

    Woodstock; or, the Cavalier Walter Scott 1801

  • "You've come back what I call a beastly sneak, you know, this term.

    Vice Versa or A Lesson to Fathers F. Anstey 1895

  • That the world should be beastly is natural, but that the faithful bride should become the whore is monstrous, and excites the same amazement in him as the same awful change in Israel excited in

    Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible 1871

  • (To avoid the overdone word beastly—which however happens to be the right one here; bestial describes character or conduct)

    Style. 1908

Comments

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  • Whose mother is beastly dead.

    Joyce, Ulysses, 7

    January 2, 2007