brutaladjective
uk/ˈbruː.təl/us/ˈbruː.t̬əl/C1 cruel, violent, and completely without feelings:
a brutal dictator
He had presided over a brutal regime in which thousands of people had "disappeared".
He was imprisoned in 1945 for the brutal murder of a twelve-year-old girl.
not considering someone's feelings:
She spoke with brutal honesty - I was too old for the job.
More examples
- This was a particularly brutal and cowardly attack.
- The rebel army behaved in a brutal fashion.
- The psychologist's attitude seemed far too casual, even brutal.
- She wrote a thriller about a brutal serial killer.
- The assault was premeditated and particularly brutal.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Violent or aggressive
- aggressive
- aggro
- all hell breaks loose idiom
- atrocious
- atrocity
- confrontation
- desperate
- forced
- forcible
- frenzied
- gay-basher
- gory
- hostile
- sabre-rattling
- savage
- savagely
- savagery
- steep
- steeped in blood idiom
- strong-arm
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Blunt and direct in speech & behaviour
Not being friendly
brutally
adverb uk/ˈbruː.təl.i/us/ˈbruː.t̬əl.i/
The old man had been brutally attacked/murdered.
To be brutally honest/frank, you look fat in that dress.