Meaning & use
brutality
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
Extreme and cruel violence or harshness in behavior or treatment.
Grammar: Used as a mass noun; you can say 'an act of brutality' to count a single instance.
Patterns
- police brutality
- brutality against someone
- the brutality of something
The report documented widespread brutality against prisoners.
She was shocked by the brutality of the attack.
The film shows the brutality of war without glorifying it.
nouncountable
A single cruel or violent act.
Grammar: Often used in the plural 'brutalities' to refer to multiple acts.
Patterns
- commit brutalities
- a brutality against someone
The soldiers were accused of committing brutalities against civilians.
Each brutality was recorded and later used as evidence.
Word forms
| plural | brutalities |
|---|
Common combinations
- police brutality
- Police brutality has become a major issue in many countries.
- extreme brutality
- The regime was known for its extreme brutality.
- act of brutality
- The beating was condemned as a brutal act of brutality.
- brutality against
- There were reports of brutality against detainees.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cruelty
- Cruelty can refer to any kind of unkindness or indifference to suffering, while brutality specifically suggests extreme physical violence.
- savagery
- Savagery emphasizes a wild, uncivilized quality; brutality focuses on the harsh, violent nature of the act.
- violence
- Violence is a broader term for any physical force intended to harm; brutality implies excessive, shocking violence.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: brutality or brutish?
brutality vs brutish
Brutish means resembling a brute; it describes a person's nature or behavior, not a specific act of violence.
Practice
The investigation focused on the ___ of the guards against the inmates.
Choose one answer.
The sentence needs a noun to follow 'the' and complete the phrase 'the ___ of the guards'. 'Brutality' is the noun. 'Brutal' is an adjective, 'brutally' is an adverb, and 'brute' is a noun but means a violent person, not the quality of violence.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “brutality”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.