Word a Day
brute
What does brute mean?
brute (noun): a person with the characteristics of an unthinking animal.
Definition: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
How do you pronounce brute?
/bɹut/ (IPA, American English). The app reads every word aloud.
Where does brute come from?
From Middle French brut, from Old French brut, from Latin brūtus (“dull, stupid, insensible”), an Oscan loanword, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us (“heavy”).
Etymology: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What are synonyms of brute?
From Princeton WordNet 3.1.
Test yourself: do you know “brute”?
Tap an answer to check it. The same questions the app asks.
What does “brute” mean?
a failure, particularly one which is mechanical in nature
Not quite: that's what breakdown means.
a person with the characteristics of an unthinking animal
Right! That's what “brute” means.
an intensity of feeling; an excited interest or eagerness
Not quite: that's what enthusiasm means.
a poetic form with regular meter and a fixed rhyme scheme
Not quite: that's what verse means.
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