Definition of 'brutal'
1. adjective
A brutal act or person is cruel and violent.
2. adjective
If someone expresses something unpleasant with brutal honesty or frankness, they express it in a clear and accurate way, without attempting to disguise its unpleasantness.
3. adjective
Brutal is used to describe things that have an unpleasant effect on people, especially when there is no attempt by anyone to reduce their effect.
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
brutal in British English
adjective
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
brutality (bruˈtality) noun
brutally (ˈbrutally)
adverb
Word Frequency
brutal in American English
adjective
SIMILAR WORDS: ˈcruel
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
brutally (ˈbrutally)
adverb
Word origin
ME & OFr < ML brutalisWord Frequency
brutal in American English
(ˈbruːtl)
SYNONYMS 1. ferocious, brutish, barbarous. See cruel. 2. gross, rude, rough, uncivil. 6. bestial, beastly, animal.ANTONYMS 1. kind. 6. human.
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
brutally adverb
Examples of 'brutal' in a sentence
brutal
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In other languages
brutal
British English: brutal
/ˈbruːtl/ ADJECTIVE
A brutal act or person is cruel and violent.
This is a brutal and senseless war.
- American English: brutal /ˈbrutəl/
- Arabic: وَحُشِيّ
- Brazilian Portuguese: brutal
- Chinese: 残忍的
- Croatian: brutalan
- Czech: brutální
- Danish: brutal
- Dutch: bruut
- European Spanish: brutal violento
- Finnish: raaka brutaali
- French: brutal
- German: brutal
- Greek: κτηνώδης
- Italian: brutale
- Japanese: 残忍な
- Korean: 잔인한
- Norwegian: brutal
- Polish: brutalny
- European Portuguese: brutal
- Romanian: brutal
- Russian: жестокий
- Latin American Spanish: brutal
- Swedish: brutal
- Thai: โหดร้าย, ป่าเถื่อน
- Turkish: vahşi
- Ukrainian: жорстокий
- Vietnamese: tàn bạo
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Definition of brutal from the Collins English Dictionary
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