imbrute

A cruel king imbrutes his once-kind heart.

Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To make brutal or savage: "imbrute" means to cause someone or something to become brutal, cruel, or devoid of human feeling or reason. It implies a degradation from a civilized or humane state to a bestial or violent one.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • The harsh conditions of war can imbrute even the most gentle soldiers. (War can make kind soldiers become brutal.)
  • Prolonged isolation and abuse threatened to imbrute his character. (Long-term mistreatment risked making his personality savage.)

Advanced Usage

• "to imbrute oneself": to deliberately degrade oneself to a brutish state.
  • He chose to imbrute himself through a life of violence and ignorance. (He intentionally made himself brutal and uncivilized.)

Variants and Related Words

• Imbruted (adj): having been made brutal or savage.

  • The imbruted prisoner showed no remorse for his actions. (The prisoner, now savage, lacked regret.)

• Imbruting (adj): tending to make brutal or savage.

  • The imbruting effects of poverty can destroy a person's empathy. (Poverty's effects that make people brutal can ruin compassion.)

Synonyms

• Brutalize: to make someone cruel or violent.
• Dehumanize: to deprive of human qualities.
• Bestialize: to make like a beast.

Related Idioms

• To descend into savagery: to become brutal or uncivilized.
  • Without law, society may descend into savagery. (Society may become brutal without rules.)