savage
savage Lexical Profile
savage Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Fierce, violent, and uncontrolled in action or temperament; brutally cruel or vicious.
"The documentary captured the savage winter storms that routinely batter the remote coastline."
(Slang) Boldly direct, unapologetic, or impressively fierce and cool without regard for consequences.
"Her savage comeback during the debate left the entire audience speechless."
Remaining in a natural, untamed, or uncultivated state; wild and not domesticated.
"The explorers trekked across a savage landscape of jagged peaks and dense, untrodden forests."
• noun
A brutal, vicious, or cruelly violent person; someone who behaves in a coarse, uncivilized, or ruthless manner.
"The coach joked that the hungry players were acting like a pack of savages at the buffet table."
(Dated, offensive) A member of a preliterate, indigenous, or non-industrialized society formerly regarded by colonial Europeans as primitive and uncivilized.
"Eighteenth-century philosophical treatises frequently invoked the romanticized concept of the 'noble savage' to critique European society."
• verb
To attack or criticize someone or something with extreme harshness or severity.
"Theater critics savaged the new musical for its implausible plot and lackluster score."
To attack and maul someone or something ferociously (especially of an animal).
"The stray dog savaged the postman's leather mailbag before running back down the alley."
Word Nuance & Usage
As a noun referring to indigenous or non-industrialized peoples, 'savage' is outdated and deeply offensive; in modern usage, the noun is limited to describing a brutal person or used playfully in slang. In contemporary slang, the adjective and noun 'savage' often carry a positive or admiring connotation for someone who is boldly unapologetic or fiercely skilled.
• Rhymes for savage
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in Middle English from Old French 'sauvage' (wild, untamed), which developed from Late Latin 'salvaticus', an alteration of Classical Latin 'silvaticus' (of the woods, wild), derived from 'silva' (forest, woodland).