Brutally

adv, slang

adv, slang ·3 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    In a brutal manner; viciously, barbarically.

    "From another point of view, it was a place without a soul. The well-to-do had hearts of stone; the rich were brutally bumptious; the Press, the Municipality, all the public men, were ridiculously, vaingloriously self-satisfied."

  2. 2
    In a direct way that does not attempt to hide, disguise, or mask unpleasantness; directly.

    "He was not an expert but he was brutally honest by saying he couldn’t help the customer find a solution."

  3. 3
    Extremely. slang

    "You know, I am so glad I never did it with someone I had lukewarm feelings for. Christian is brutally hot, and I am going to remember tonight forever."

Adverb
  1. 1
    in a vicious manner wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
atrociouslyawfullycruellydreadfullyferociouslyflagrantly

Example

More examples

"She is brutally honest; it hurts me from time to time."

Etymology

From brutal + -ly.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.