Definitions

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

  • noun An animal other than a human; a beast.
  • noun A brutal, crude, or insensitive person.
  • adjective Of or relating to animals other than humans.
  • adjective Characteristic of a brute, especially.
  • adjective Entirely physical.
  • adjective Lacking or showing a lack of reason or intelligence.
  • adjective Savage; cruel.
  • adjective Unremittingly severe.
  • adjective Coarse; brutish.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Senseless; unconscious.
  • Wanting reason; animal; not human: as, a brute beast.
  • Characteristic of animals; of brutal character or quality.
  • Blunt or dull of sentiment; without sensibility; rough; uncivilized; insensible.
  • Not associated with intelligence or intellectual effort; unintelligent; irrational.
  • Harsh; crude.
  • Synonyms Brute, Brutish, Brutal, Beastly, Bestial. Brute is the most general of these words, and remains nearest to the distinguishing difference between man and beast, irrationality: as, brute force. Brutish is especially uncultured, stupid, groveling: as, brutes and still more brutish men. Brutal implies cruelty or lack of feeling: as, brutal language or conduct. Beastly expresses that which is altogether unworthy of a man, especially that which is filthy and disgusting in conduct or manner of life. Bestial is applied chiefly to that which is carnal, sensual, lascivious: as, bestial vices or appetites.
  • noun A beast, especially one of the higher quadrupeds; any animal as distinguished from man.
  • noun A brutal person; a savage in disposition or manners; a low-bred, unfeeling person.
  • noun Nautical, a yacht that to some extent sacrifices fineness of lines to fullness of form, so that great initial stability and sail-carrying power are obtained.

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

  • transitive verb obsolete To report; to bruit.
  • adjective Not having sensation; senseless; inanimate; unconscious; without intelligence or volition.
  • adjective Not possessing reason, irrational; unthinking.
  • adjective Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of, a brute beast. Hence: Brutal; cruel; fierce; ferocious; savage; pitiless.
  • adjective Having the physical powers predominating over the mental; coarse; unpolished; unintelligent.
  • adjective rare Rough; uncivilized; unfeeling.
  • adjective The application of predominantly physical effort to achieve a goal that could be accomplished with less effort if more carefully considered. Figuratively, repetitive or strenuous application of an obvious or simple tactic, as contrasted with a more clever stratagem achieving the same goal with less effort; -- .
  • noun An animal destitute of human reason; any animal not human; esp. a quadruped; a beast.
  • noun A brutal person; a savage in heart or manners; as unfeeling or coarse person.

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

  • adjective Strong, blunt, and spontaneous
  • noun archaic, slang, UK One who has not yet matriculated.
  • verb Obsolete spelling of bruit.

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

  • noun a cruelly rapacious person
  • adjective resembling a beast; showing lack of human sensibility
  • noun a living organism characterized by voluntary movement

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

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

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French brut, from Latin brūtus ("dull, stupid, insensible").

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Examples

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  • Et tu, cruel rapaciousness.

    October 25, 2009