brutal

brutal — adjective

1. extremely violent and merciless, causing pain or fear with no sign of pity.

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

extremely violent and merciless, causing pain or fear with no sign of pity.

Example

News reports described a brutal attack outside the train station at dawn.

brutal + attack

The brutal guards kicked the prisoner again after he fell.

Common collocations
  • brutal attack
  • brutal murder
  • brutal beating
  • brutal regime
Synonyms
  • cruel

    close in meaning, but often less strongly tied to physical violence

  • savage

    stresses wild violence or extreme force

  • ruthless

    focuses on lack of mercy, even without physical attack

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

brutal + noun

be brutal to + person

brutal toward + group

Usage Note

Often used for attacks, killings, punishments, or regimes. Stronger than 'cruel' in many contexts because it often suggests physical violence as well as lack of pity.

2. so plain and hard in the way it is said that people may feel hurt or shocked.

2.adjectiveC1
Definition

so plain and hard in the way it is said that people may feel hurt or shocked.

Example

Tomas sent a brutal text after Priya asked why she was leaving.

brutal + text

The coach was brutal about our weak defense after the final.

be brutal about + topic

Common collocations
  • brutal honesty
  • brutal truth
  • brutal answer
  • brutal review
Synonyms
  • blunt

    similar, but often slightly less strong

  • tactless

    stresses lack of care for other people's feelings

  • cutting

    emphasizes words that wound emotionally

Antonyms
  • tactful

    careful not to upset people

  • diplomatic

    careful and skillful in sensitive situations

Grammar Patterns

brutal + noun

be brutal about + topic

be brutal with + person

Usage Note

Usually modifies words for speech or judgment, such as honesty, answer, review, or truth. Common with 'about' for the topic and 'with' for the person receiving the words.

Common Mistakes

The coach was brutal with our defense.
The coach was brutal about our defense.
use 'about' for the subject being discussed.

3. extremely hard, unpleasant, or damaging to experience or deal with.

3.adjectiveC1
Definition

extremely hard, unpleasant, or damaging to experience or deal with.

Example

The desert heat turned brutal by noon, and the water ran low.

brutal + heat

Monday's math exam was brutal for students who had worked late.

brutal + exam

Common collocations
  • brutal heat
  • brutal exam
  • brutal defeat
  • brutal commute
Synonyms
  • harsh

    broad and common, but less intense in tone

  • severe

    more formal, especially in news or official writing

  • grueling

    narrower; stresses long, exhausting effort

Antonyms
  • mild

    not very strong or difficult

  • easy

    not hard to do or bear

Grammar Patterns

brutal + noun

be brutal

brutal for + person

Usage Note

Often used for heat, schedules, losses, exams, or journeys. Distinguish from sense 1, which focuses on violence and cruelty, and from sense 2, which focuses on harsh words.

Common Mistakes

My boss was brutal yesterday.
Yesterday's workload was brutal.
use this sense for hard situations or results, not for hurtful behavior.

Word family

  • brutally
    adverbC1
  • brutality
    nounC1
  • brutalize
    verbC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/3

For adjective/3, brutal is a strong everyday word for something that is very hard to live through or very bad in its effect. Harsh is broader and slightly less emotional; it works for weather, rules, light, or criticism. Severe sounds more formal and is common in news, medicine, and official writing. Grueling is narrower: it stresses long physical or mental effort, such as training or travel. Awful is very common, but it is vaguer and can simply mean 'very bad'. A brutal exam suggests people were hit hard by it; a grueling exam suggests exhausting work. You can say 'a brutal summer' or 'a severe winter', but 'a grueling winter' sounds less natural.

harsh ↗severe ↗gruelingawful ↗

Common collocations

Adverbs

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Brutal came into English through French and goes back to a Latin word meaning 'like a brute'. The older idea was behavior seen as animal-like rather than human. From that base, English first used brutal for violent cruelty, then extended it to painfully direct speech and to experiences that feel especially hard or severe.