brute
brute Lexical Profile
brute Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Purely physical and unthinking; involving raw power rather than reason, skill, or intelligence.
"When the rusted lock refused to turn, they had to rely on brute strength to open the heavy iron gate."
Lacking the capacity for reason or higher consciousness; characteristic of non-human animals.
"Early philosophers often debated what separated human moral agency from brute instinct."
• noun
A savagely cruel, violent, or insensitive person.
"In the novel, the protagonist stands up to the local brute who had been intimidating the townspeople."
An animal, especially a large, powerful, or untamed four-footed creature, as distinguished from a human being.
"The heavy wooden cart was pulled up the steep mountain pass by a pair of sturdy brutes."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'brute' with the homophone 'brut' (used to describe very dry champagne). As an adjective, 'brute' is used strictly attributively before a noun (as in 'brute force' or 'brute strength') and never predicatively.
• Rhymes for brute
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the 15th century from Old French 'brut' ('coarse, raw, irrational'), which derives from Latin 'brutus', originally meaning 'heavy' or 'unwieldy' and later 'dull, stupid, or insensible'.