as in brute
having or showing the nature and appetites of a lower animal
left to shift for himself on an isolated farm, he gradually sank into a beastly, purposeless existence
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in extremely
to a great degree
it's beastly hot today
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of beastly
Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 26 Apr. 2025
This would be a more monumental climb given the beastly nature of the Western Conference.
—Mirjam Swanson, Orange County Register, 30 Jan. 2025
Louis J. Esterhazy, WWD, 20 Feb. 2025
Taylor Hill/FilmMagic—Getty Images Now 50 and a dad of four, Williams appears to view the only industry he’s ever known as both beautiful and beastly.
—Olivia-Anne Cleary, TIME, 10 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for beastly
Adjective
To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.
CNN —
Legends of young heroes fighting lions to the death appear in Roman records and artwork, but scant physical evidence of these beastly battles exists.
—Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 26 Apr. 2025
This would be a more monumental climb given the beastly nature of the Western Conference.
—Mirjam Swanson, Orange County Register, 30 Jan. 2025
Adverb
Here’s the idea: Carve out some beastly, cramped space inside the kitchen where, in days gone by, customers were prohibited.
—Louis J. Esterhazy, WWD, 20 Feb. 2025
Taylor Hill/FilmMagic—Getty Images Now 50 and a dad of four, Williams appears to view the only industry he’s ever known as both beautiful and beastly.
—Olivia-Anne Cleary, TIME, 10 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for beastly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for beastly
Adjective
-
In the end, what mattered was the balance of power and brute force.—
Hussein Agha,
New Yorker,
22 Aug. 2025
-
There is more to Cunha’s game than the brute dimensions of his skeleton, however.—
Jack Lang,
New York Times,
8 Aug. 2025
Adverb
-
Dern’s casting as Hank's mom was extremely meaningful to Butler, whose mother Lori died of cancer in 2014.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
31 Aug. 2025
-
Having a healthy Parsons ready to rock for the team's matchup against the Lions will be extremely important.—
Evan Massey,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
After being relegated to the bench as his season spirals out of control, shortstop Anthony Volpe returned to the lineup against the Washington Nationals, only for his issues at the plate to reach a brutal new low.—
Peter Chawaga,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Aug. 2025
-
Friends can lie, colleagues can backstab, anyone can die in any number of brutal ways.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Aug. 2025
Adverb
-
There will also be fun for the kids in their very own Kids Fun Zone.—
Caroline Ritzie,
The Enquirer,
31 Aug. 2025
-
Except for very special occasions, videos longer than a few seconds are much less likely to be re-watched or shared.—
Paul Monckton,
Forbes.com,
31 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
By then, however, Mizuhara had revealed himself to be a personal whale whose feral gambling habit mirrored — and now heavily subsidized — Bowyer’s own.—
DAVID AMSDEN,
Rolling Stone,
29 Aug. 2025
-
The program provides free spay/neuter surgeries for free-roaming cats in areas throughout metro Phoenix that have large populations of feral cats.—
Dina Kaur,
AZCentral.com,
28 Aug. 2025
Adverb
-
But something went terribly wrong when, about nine years ago, David was out on a mission ordered by Juno: and he and his team were ambushed.—
Demetrius Patterson,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Aug. 2025
-
But dashing from one building to another for meetings wasn’t a terribly efficient way of working.—
Dana Thomas,
Architectural Digest,
18 Aug. 2025
Adverb
-
Photo: Levi Kelly A house this small needs to be incredibly efficient.—
Levi Kelly,
CNBC,
24 Aug. 2025
-
Short n’ Sweet, but anticipation for her next project is incredibly high.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
24 Aug. 2025
Adverb
-
The car scenes are rough, authentic, and often deeply compelling — mainly because the fresh-faced Bridges is so damned charismatic.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
27 June 2025
-
While Nintendo mostly conceded the corporate tug-of-war over graphical prowess back in 2006 with the Wii, the general plateau of visual enhancements over the last two generations means that games running on Switch 2 look pretty damned good even compared to more premium devices.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
5 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Beastly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beastly. Accessed 3 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share