Meaning & use
beast
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Meanings
nouncountableliterary
A large, powerful animal, especially a wild one that walks on four feet.
Grammar: Countable: a beast, wild beasts. It sounds old-fashioned or literary for ordinary animals.
Patterns
- a beast of burden
- a wild beast
The hunters heard a great beast crashing through the trees.
The farmer treated his oxen like beasts of burden.
In the story, a fierce beast guarded the cave.
nouncountableinformaldisapproving
A person who is cruel, brutal or very rude.
Grammar: Informal insult; the person is the beast: He's a beast to his staff.
Patterns
- a beast to someone
The coach was a beast to the younger players.
Don't be such a beast to your little sister.
Critics called the dictator a beast.
nouncountableinformal
Something very big, strong or difficult to handle, such as a machine or a task.
Grammar: Informal; often used with a for a thing that is hard to deal with.
Patterns
- a beast of a something
That exam was a beast.
He drives a beast of a truck.
The storm turned into a real beast overnight.
nouncountableslangapproving
A person who is extremely strong, skilled or tireless, used as praise.
Grammar: Informal; in this sense it is a compliment, not an insult.
Patterns
- be a beast at something
Our goalkeeper is an absolute beast.
She's a beast at chess.
He lifted the weight like a beast.
Word forms
| plural | beasts |
|---|
Common combinations
- wild beast
- A wild beast roamed the forest.
- beast of burden
- The donkey was their beast of burden.
- mythical beast
- The dragon is a mythical beast.
- beauty and the beast
- The class performed Beauty and the Beast.
- the beast within
- Anger can awaken the beast within.
Synonyms and how they differ
- animal
- Animal is the neutral everyday word, but beast stresses size, strength or wildness.
- brute
- Brute as a person means someone cruel and rough, quite close to beast in its second meaning.
- monster
- Monster suggests something frightening and often imaginary, while beast can be a real animal.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: beast or best?
beast vs best
Best means of the highest quality; beast has an extra an and names a large animal.
Practice
In the sentence He's a beast in the gym, what does beast most likely mean?
Choose one answer.
In casual speech about fitness, beast praises someone as strong and tireless. The meaning of cruelty does not fit a gym compliment.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “beast”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.