brutal

adjective

SayBROO-tuhlUS/ˈbɹu.təl/UK/ˈbɹuː.təl/AUS/ˈbɹʉː.təl/

6 meanings of brutal

1
adjective
Savagely violent, vicious, or cruel, often in a way that shows no intelligence.
The regime's brutal crackdown left hundreds dead and many more imprisoned.
Witnesses described a brutal assault carried out with senseless ferocity.
Similarsavage, vicious, cruel, violent, ferocious
Oppositegentle, humane, kind
Note
The Latin behind the word explains its hint of stupidity: Medieval Latin brutalis, "savage, stupid", comes from Latin brutus, "dull, stupid". The violence it names is therefore often mindless as well as cruel, force without thought. It also stretches from bloodshed to art. Peter Bradshaw, reviewing T2 Trainspotting in 2017, called the film "a scabrous and brutal black comedy", a film that spares nobody.
2
adjective
Harsh and unrelenting, showing no sign of letting up.
The marathon's final miles were brutal under the relentless desert sun.
Commuters endured a brutal heat wave that lasted the entire month.
Similargrueling, punishing, harsh, severe, relentless
Oppositemild, easy, gentle
3
adjective
Direct and frank, making no attempt to disguise an unpleasant truth.
Her review offered a brutal assessment of the novel's many flaws.
The coach is known for brutal honesty whenever players underperform.
Similarblunt, frank, harsh, candid, unsparing
Oppositetactful, diplomatic
Note
Its natural home is the pairing brutal honesty. There the adjective praises as much as it warns, describing a truth told without any cushioning. Keep it apart from the coarse-manner meaning. In that sense the fault lies in the speaker's manners. In this one the bluntness serves the truth, and the unpleasantness belongs to the facts rather than to the person delivering them.
4
adjective
Coarse or unfeeling in the way one behaves or speaks.
The foreman's brutal way of speaking offended the new workers.
He had a brutal bluntness that left no room for tact.
Similarharsh, coarse, callous, crude, rough
Oppositegentle, tactful, considerate, kind
5
adjective
Unpleasantly precise or penetrating, in a way that's hard to face.
The analyst's brutal precision exposed flaws no one else had noticed.
His brutal insight cut straight to the heart of her excuses.
Similarmerciless, unsparing, ruthless, piercing, incisive
6
adjectivefiguratively
In extreme metal, describing music that is fast and densely packed with riffs.
Critics praised the record's brutal riffing and breakneck tempo.
The set opened with a brutal track that pinned the crowd against the barrier.
Note
Among extreme metal listeners the word is a compliment, a measure of how heavy a record is. It describes sound rather than subject: fast tempos and riffs packed tightly together. A song can earn the word without being about violence. The leap from the savage-violence sense is figurative and easy to follow, because the music is meant to hit the listener like an assault.

Practice

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Origin

From Medieval Latin brutalis ("savage, stupid"), which comes from Latin brūtus ("dull, stupid").