BRUTALLY Synonyms: 62 Similar and Opposite Words

brutally

adverb

Definition of brutally

as in harshly

in a manner so as to cause loss or suffering the prisoners were treated brutally at the hands of the guards

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of brutally Witch fever, by this point in history, had become a mechanism for brutally regulating and disciplining female behavior, and doing so intergenerationally. — Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2026 The flags couldn’t be redder, and Khoshnoudi nimbly sketches out the circuitous emotional paths S takes to avoid seeing them until such evasion suddenly and brutally becomes impossible. — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026 On April 21, 2023, Garr was walking up Bridge Street in Drexel Hill when police said Weh brutally attacked him, stabbing and slashing the 15-year-old 11 times. — Joe Holden, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026 The father pulls over, and the car is immediately swarmed over by bandits, who brutally kill him — plus his wife and two kids — with no mercy. — Damon Wise, Deadline, 12 Oct. 2026 It was forgotten by the time Banks ran around the field celebrating, but a brutally slow start made the first quarter utterly forgettable. — ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026 When three bodies are found brutally torn apart in a house, Meg (Deborah Ann Woll) is informed by Ian (Will Hochman), the detective working the case, that one of them is her dad, who has been missing for 36 years. — David Faris, TheWeek, 5 Oct. 2026 Each episode, the brutally honest Ramsay comes in to help the struggling restaurant fix its problems or its negative image, and in turn the restaurants get publicity from being on a national television show. — Katelyn Umholtz, Kansas City Star, 1 Oct. 2026 She’d been brutally murdered, and Icelandic police needed to know why. — HubSpot, 1 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutally

Adverb

Hair in Sports Women are often judged more harshly than male counterparts in many aspects of life, but this is especially true in sports.

— Audrey Noble, Vogue, 15 Oct. 2026
But their complaints come as Lecornu's government seeks to rein in public spending to appease skittish bond markets, which have punished France more harshly than many of its peers this year, amid a global bond market rout.

— Jenni Reid, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of harshly

Adverb

Many of the children's bodies were severely decomposed, with only 26 able to be identified, and investigations into the other deaths are ongoing.

— Jefferson Kahinju Reuters, Arkansas Online, 20 Oct. 2026
At least one case of congenital measles led to a death; the first death reported in the current outbreak was in a newborn baby boy, who died immediately after birth while his mother was severely ill with measles.

— Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of severely

Adverb

The summer had seen Europe endure an oppressively dry, hot summer, which had seen wildfires spring up across the continent.

— Anthony Wood, Space.com, 26 Aug. 2026
After a bit of a reprieve from an oppressively hot summer, another heat wave is set to scorch Southern California this week.

— Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of oppressively

Adverb

And even DeVonta Smith, who made his return from injury Sunday, landed hard in the fourth quarter and appeared to be shaken up.

— Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 18 Oct. 2026
The Capricorn Moon squares the Sun in your sign, making private responsibilities or family dynamics harder to tune out.

— Tarot.com, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of hard

Browse Nearby Words

brutalizing

brutally

brute

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Brutally.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutally. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of brutally

adverb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

compunction

Popular in Grammar & Usage

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Popular

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

Games & Quizzes