n. 1. An animal other than a human; a beast. 2. A brutal, crude, or insensitive person. adj. 1. Of or relating to animals other than humans: "None of the brute creation requires more than food and shelter" (Henry David Thoreau). 2. Characteristic of a brute, especially: a. Entirely physical: brute force. b. Lacking or showing a lack of reason or intelligence: a brute impulse. c. Savage; cruel: brute coercion. d. Unremittingly severe: was driven to steal food through brute necessity. 3. Coarse; brutish. [From Middle English, nonhuman, from Old French brut, from Latin brūtus, stupid; see gwerə-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] brutism n. |
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