Definition

Noun: 1. Unpleasant nastiness; used especially of nasty weather: The state or quality of being extremely disagreeable, foul, or severe, often describing weather conditions. 2. The quality of being deliberately mean: The characteristic of being intentionally cruel, vicious, or brutish in behavior.

Usage Examples

• Referring to unpleasant conditions:
  • We had to cancel the picnic due to the sheer beastliness of the storm.
  • The beastliness of the winter made travel nearly impossible.
• Referring to mean behavior:
  • I was shocked by the beastliness of his comments.
  • Her actions were motivated by pure spite and beastliness.

Advanced Usage

• "with beastliness": in a manner characterized by nastiness or cruelty.
  • He responded to the criticism with unexpected beastliness.
• "a touch of beastliness": a slight element of nastiness or unpleasantness.
  • There was a touch of beastliness in the air, a hint of the coming sleet.

Variants and Related Words

• Beastly (adj): Extremely unpleasant or disagreeable; also, cruel or brutish.
  • We endured beastly weather on the hike.
  • That was a beastly thing to say.
• Beast (n): A cruel, brutish, or unpleasant person.
  • He was a real beast to his subordinates.

Synonyms

• Nastiness: The quality of being unpleasant or disagreeable.
• Foulness: The state of being offensive or disgusting.
• Viciousness: Deliberate cruelty or violence.
• Brutishness: Savagely violent or cruel behavior.

Related Phrases

• "the beastliness of it all": used to emphasize the overall unpleasantness of a situation.
  • I can't stand the cold, the damp, the beastliness of it all!

Noun

1. unpleasant nastiness; used especially of nasty weather
2. the quality of being deliberately mean