Brusque
adj, name, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 To act towards (someone or something) in a curt or rudely abrupt manner. archaic, transitive
"Had this been done, Denine had not been bruſqued and carried by Villars at the firſt aſſault, […]"
- 1 Rudely abrupt; curt, unfriendly.
"Mr. VValler, being probably of opinion that Monſieur Palamede’s arguments vvere too bruſque to be advanc’d in a diſpute vvith a Lady, vvho number’d not fevver than tvventy Kings of her progenitors, vvrote this poem in a more tender and courtly ſtyle; […]"
- 2 Sour, tart. obsolete
"[T]he thin and bruske harſh vvine doth nouriſh the bodie leſſe, but yet more agreeable and nutritive it is to the ſtomack."
- 1 marked by rude or peremptory shortness wordnet
- 1 A municipality of Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"The blueblood lady held the simple folks in disdain. In her eyes, they all looked boors with a brusque style, despite the fact that this time it is owing to them that she had roof above her head."
Etymology
The adjective is borrowed from French brusque, from Italian brusco (“abrupt, sudden, brusque; brisk; eager; sour, tart; unripe; grim-looking”); further etymology unknown. The verb is derived from the adjective.
Unadapted borrowing from Portuguese Brusque.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.