Definition

1. Noun:

   • A living organism characterized by voluntary movement: This sense refers to any animal, especially one that is not human, emphasizing its physical and instinctual nature.
   • A cruelly rapacious person: This sense describes a person who is extremely cruel, violent, and governed by base instincts, lacking human sensibility or morality.

2. Adjective:

   • Resembling a beast; showing lack of human sensibility: Describes actions, forces, or qualities that are purely physical, instinctual, and devoid of reason, intelligence, or finer human feelings.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • The hunter tracked the brute through the forest. (Here, 'brute' refers to a large, wild animal.)
  • He was nothing but a brute who took what he wanted by force. (Here, 'brute' refers to a cruel, violent person.)

• Adjective:

  • They overcame the barrier through brute force alone. (Here, 'brute' describes force that is raw, unthinking, and physical.)
  • His reaction was one of brute instinct, not careful thought. (Here, 'brute' describes an instinct that is animalistic and unreasoned.)

Advanced Usage

• "the brute": Used to refer to the animalistic, physical aspect of human nature in contrast to the intellectual or spiritual.

  • Philosophy seeks to elevate the mind above the brute.

• "brute fact": A basic, undeniable fact that requires no explanation or is not derived from other facts.

  • The brute fact is that we need food and water to survive.

Variants and Related Words

• Brutish (adjective): Resembling or characteristic of a brute; coarse, savage.
  • He was condemned for his brutish behavior.
• Brutality (noun): Savage physical violence; great cruelty.
  • The brutality of the attack shocked the nation.
• Brutalize (verb): To make brutal, cruel, or harsh; to treat someone brutally.
  • War has the power to brutalize ordinary people.

Synonyms

• Noun (animal): Beast, creature, animal.
• Noun (person): Savage, monster, beast, thug.
• Adjective: Bestial, beastly, animalistic, unthinking, physical.

Related Phrases

• Brute force: The application of sheer physical strength or computational power to solve a problem, as opposed to skill or intelligence.
  • The code was cracked not by cleverness, but by brute force computing.

Related Idioms

• "Survival of the fittest": While not containing the word 'brute,' this idiom relates to the concept of a brutish, competitive struggle for existence in nature.
• "Tooth and nail": To fight with great ferocity and determination, using any means necessary, akin to an animalistic struggle.
  • They fought tooth and nail to defend their home.

Adjective

1. resembling a beast; showing lack of human sensibility
   • beastly desires
   • a bestial nature
   • brute force
   • a dull and brutish man
   • bestial treatment of prisoners

Noun

1. a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
2. a cruelly rapacious person