adjective
brutal
BROO-tuhl
adjective
1
Extremely violent, cruel, or harsh.
"The film depicts the brutal conditions in the prison camp."
"It was a brutal winter, with weeks of sub-zero temperatures."
2
Blunt and unpleasant, but honest.
"He gave her some brutal but useful feedback on the draft."
"Her brutal honesty can be hard to take, but she's never wrong."
How to Use Brutal
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishVery harsh, violent, or unpleasantly direct.
Common pairings
brutal honesty
brutal attack
brutal weather
brutally frank
Word Forms
more brutal comparative, most brutal superlative
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Etymology
From Medieval Latin brutalis (\"savage, stupid\"), from Latin brutus (\"dull, stupid\") — the same root that gives us \"brute.\"