n.
- a violent or savage person or animal.
▸informal a cruel or insensitive person.
- an animal as opposed to a human being.
adj.
- unreasoning and animal-like.
- merely physical:
brute force.
- harsh or inescapable:
brute necessity.
Derivative
- brutish adj.
- brutishly adv.
- brutishness n.
Etymology
ME (as adj.): from OFr. brut(e), from L. brutus ‘dull, stupid’.