1
as in brutal
having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others
brute attacks on innocent civilians
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in feral
having or showing the nature and appetites of a lower animal
a man of brute instinct, he deals with conflict the only way he knows how—by physical force
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in animal
one of the lower animals as distinguished from human beings
it is a fundamental sense of right and wrong that separates us from the brutes
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in villain
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
leave him alone, you brute!
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 brute
Sha Rabii, Fortune, 19 Mar. 2026
For size and brute force, the Wildcats can match any opponent in any setting.
—Jon Wilner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Mar. 2026
David Sims, The Atlantic, 19 Dec. 2025
Robot relief begins Early customer deployments show that offloading humans from the brute-force, repetitive task of unloading trailers frees them to handle other bottlenecks.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 5 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brute
Adjective
What’s needed are memory systems that are smart, fast, and compact — architectures that can scale alongside model growth without requiring brute-force resource consumption.
—Sha Rabii, Fortune, 19 Mar. 2026
For size and brute force, the Wildcats can match any opponent in any setting.
—Jon Wilner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Mar. 2026
Noun
As usual, Lang plays the brute’s Heart of Darkness–esque descent into madness with gleeful relish.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 19 Dec. 2025
Robot relief begins Early customer deployments show that offloading humans from the brute-force, repetitive task of unloading trailers frees them to handle other bottlenecks.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 5 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brute
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brute
Adjective
-
Still, the timeline for elimination came as news to guard Josh Giddey in the locker room after Wednesday’s brutal 157-137 blowout loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Mar. 2026
-
Iran’s brutal regime retains a solid grip in Tehran, in Iraq through proxies, and in Lebanese society through Hezbollah.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
No faction is more divided than the British, however, with benign diplomat Thomas Hopkins (Billy Howle) at odds with the almost feral Army captain Orde Wingate (Aramayo), reputed father of the modern IDF.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
27 Mar. 2026
-
Evil Kirk is a frightening, primal menace, skulking around the corridors like a feral beast, chugging brandy and assaulting Yeoman Rand with no conscience.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
22 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
As a teen-ager, Batten was the president of Animal Connection of Texas, an animal-rights nonprofit, and lobbied for restrictions on travelling circuses.—
Rachel Monroe,
New Yorker,
26 Mar. 2026
-
An easy way to remember the difference is to think about the animals' actions.—
Rachel Barber,
USA Today,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
There are no villains—or maybe life, or growing up, or getting older, is the villain.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 Mar. 2026
-
His grandiose persona rubbed many the wrong way early on, earning him a villain label.—
Pamela Chelin,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The loss of books is minor, almost trivial, in light of all the horrors and violence unleashed by this senseless war, but the potential loss of these books is a sad reminder that we’re all affected and implicated in America’s savage flailings.—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
17 Mar. 2026
-
Conan O'Brien hit almost every note on Sunday — savage, playful, heartfelt and dumb.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The San Diego task force now en route to the Middle East is composed of three bulky and brutish vessels.—
Gary Robbins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
27 Mar. 2026
-
Season 2 springboards on Fisk’s strongarm rule and his mandate to clean up the streets of rebels via his brutish Anti-Vigilante Task Force, which rounds up people – echoing recent INS maneuvers – and shoves them into deplorable conditions and cages.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
On their last night together before Raissa leaves, the two stumble upon a strange portal that transports them to the island of Nakali, which is filled with mythological creatures pulled from Filipino folklore and mythology.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
25 Mar. 2026
-
The remains of these unknown creatures often puzzled their discoverers.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Labubus, which look like monsters with big eyes, sharp teeth and fur, went viral in 2025, appearing on backpacks, purses and other bags all over social media.—
Julia Gomez,
USA Today,
27 Mar. 2026
-
Universal Studios Hollywood visitors will be cast as extras in a monster movie that goes off the rails when a villainous character known as The Phantom Director unleashes Universal Monsters such as Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolf Man during the park’s Universal Fan Fest Nights.—
Jeffrey Miller,
Daily News,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Brute.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brute. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
