brutal

[broot-l] / ˈbrut l /

ADJECTIVE

cruel, remorseless

Synonyms

STRONGEST

barbarous callous ferocious harsh inhuman merciless rough rude ruthless savage severe vicious

WEAK

bloodthirsty gruff hard heartless impolite insensitive pitiless remorseless uncivil uncivilized unfeeling unmannerly unmerciful

Antonyms

STRONGEST

calm civilized compassionate courteous easy friendly gentle giving kind mild nice polished polite refined smooth sophisticated sympathetic tame temperate tender

WEAK

generous humane

ADJECTIVE

crude, rough

Synonyms

STRONGEST

inhuman inhumane rude savage

WEAK

animal bearish beastly bestial brute brutish carnal coarse feral ferine swinish unfeeling

Antonyms

STRONGEST

kind nice

WEAK

generous gentle humane

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Veeva has taken a battering as part of the brutal software selloff in recent week, but the results could give the stock a much-needed boost.

From Barron's

The release of new coding agents, particularly those from OpenAI and Anthropic, has triggered a brutal selloff for the sector.

From Barron's

Yet again this season, just when it seemed as if Liverpool were making progress, they suffered a brutal defeat.

From BBC

That has been a brutal selloff of software stocks that has cost companies like Salesforce, Workday and ServiceNow more than one-quarter of their market capitalizations so far this year.

From The Wall Street Journal

The prospect of a drawn-out war in the Middle East sparked a broad and brutal selloff on Tuesday, and one of the best trades of 2026 got hammered.

From Barron's

brutal

Example Sentences

Related Words