rhizoverbBeta
DictionarysavageViolent or cruel
adjective / verb / noun

savage

SAV-ij/ˈsævɪdʒ/

Displaying fierce cruelty or violence.

The wolf makes a savage lunge with bared teeth and flattened ears.

A snarling wolf lunges forward with bared teeth, flattened ears, and braced claws, expressing fierce, uncontrolled aggression without depicting injury.
Etymology
savLatinforest, woods
+ageLatinpertaining to

The forest connection originally described what belonged to the woods: wild rather than domesticated or tame. That sense extended to fierce animals and to violent or uncontrolled behavior.

In context

Heroes and Legends Documentary Channel2:22
Shipwrecked and being held captive by a tribe of savage cannibals
The Zeno Voyage to the New World 1390

More examples

  • The loose dog savaged a passerby.
  • Critics savage the mayor's plan for cutting emergency services.
  • The textbook's use of "savages" for Indigenous people is offensive.

Forms

savage · savager · savagest · savages · savaged · savaging

savagely adverb — In a fiercely violent or cruel way.

savagery noun — Extreme cruelty or violence toward others.

Similar words

brutal
Emphasizes extreme cruelty or violence without pity for victims.
fierce
Emphasizes aggressive intensity, not necessarily cruelty or actual violence.
vicious
Suggests a deliberate desire to hurt or cause suffering.