beastie

noun

beast·​ie ˈbē-stē 

: a real or imaginary animal or creature : beast

Mr. Gould is not a run-of-the-mill "nature writer" given to tender accounts of wondrous beasties or excited descriptions of biological freaks.

—H. Jack Geiger

It describes the adventures of an old man who lives in a cave by the Loch of Lochnagar, with such characters as … a grouse who repels visitors and birds and beasties who live around Balmoral Castle.

—Herbert Mitgang

… 900 acres of protected beach, marshlands and meadow keep everything from wild sea oats to native birds and beasties safe and sound.

—Town & Country

Big, squishy mutants and dreamy monsters. Otherworldly tentacled zomboid beasties.

—Owen Gleiberman

Synonyms

• animal
• beast
• brute
• creature
• critter

Examples of beastie in a Sentence

I've become used to sharing our cabin in the woods with all sorts of little beasties.

Recent Examples on the Web

Hollywood gremlins are particularly interested in meddling with technological devices to cause serious accidents, and a voiceover at the end of the film ominously warns viewers that any unexplained problems with electrical devices in the home might be on account of a such a beastie lurking there. —The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 23 Oct. 2024

From hummingbirds and butterflies to spiders and even lowly beetles, all those wee beasties are part of an intricate web that makes up an ecosystem. —Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 11 Oct. 2024

As if swinging open the gates of hell, Méliès invited all manner of clawed, malevolent beasties onto the silver screen. —A.a. Dowd, Washington Post, 31 July 2024

The best advice on how to escape one of those beasties? —Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 27 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1714, in the meaning defined above