A bear is a friendly beast compared to a tiger.
Source: tatoeba (36938)
Beast
Synonyms for "beast" (134 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (27)
Strong matches (40)
Related words (67)
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: animal, brute, creature, animal, animal kingdom member.
- Sentence evidence is available for beast, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from wordnet, opengloss, moby, derived_reverse, and related lexical sources.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "beast".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "beast"
Keep "beast" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "beast" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "beast", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "beast" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
12 entriesMore specific
9 entriesCollocations
6 entriesbeast of burdenbeast of legendfearsome beastferocious beastmythical beastwild beast
Inflections
1 entriesDerivations
3 entriesTranslations
165 translations across 88 languages.
Albanian
2 entries- bishë noun (non-human animal)
- zullap noun (non-human animal)
Amharic
1 entries- አውሬ noun (non-human animal)
Ancient Greek
2 entries- θήρ noun (non-human animal)
- θηρίον noun (non-human animal)
Arabic
1 entries- وَحْش noun (non-human animal)
Armenian
3 entries- գազան noun (non-human animal)
- կենդանի noun (non-human animal)
- ջանավար noun (non-human animal)
Asturian
2 entries- bestia noun (non-human animal)
- fiera noun (non-human animal)
Atong (India)
1 entries- mat noun (non-human animal)
Bashkir
1 entries- хайуан noun (non-human animal)
Basque
1 entries- aberetzar noun (non-human animal)
Belarusian
3 entries- жывёла noun (non-human animal)
- звер noun (non-human animal)
- зьвер noun (non-human animal)
Bulgarian
2 entries- живо́тно noun (non-human animal)
- звяр noun (non-human animal)
Carpathian Rusyn
1 entries- звірь noun (non-human animal)
Catalan
2 entries- bèstia noun (non-human animal)
- fera noun (non-human animal)
Cebuano
1 entries- mananap noun (non-human animal)
Central Kurdish
1 entries- لاور noun (non-human animal)
Chinese Mandarin
3 entries- 四足獸 /四足兽 noun (non-human animal)
- 獸 /兽 noun (non-human animal)
- 野獸 /野兽 noun (non-human animal)
Chukchi
1 entries- гынник noun (non-human animal)
Church Slavic
1 entries- звѣрь noun (non-human animal)
Czech
3 entries- bestie noun (non-human animal)
- zvíře noun (non-human animal)
- živočich noun (non-human animal)
Danish
3 entries- bæst noun (non-human animal)
- dyr noun (non-human animal)
- vilddyr noun (non-human animal)
Dutch
3 entries- beest noun (non-human animal)
- dier noun (non-human animal)
- wild dier noun (non-human animal)
Eastern Mari
1 entries- янлык noun (non-human animal)
Esperanto
1 entries- besto noun (non-human animal)
Estonian
1 entries- elajas noun (non-human animal)
Finnish
2 entries- elukka noun (non-human animal)
- peto noun (non-human animal)
French
2 entries- bête noun (non-human animal)
- bête sauvage noun (non-human animal)
Georgian
2 entries- მხეცი noun (non-human animal)
- ცხოველი noun (non-human animal)
German
2 entries- Bestie noun (non-human animal)
- Tier noun (non-human animal)
Gothic
1 entries- 𐌳𐌹𐌿𐍃 noun (non-human animal)
Greek
2 entries- θηρίο noun (non-human animal)
- τέρας noun (non-human animal)
Haitian Creole
1 entries- bèt noun (non-human animal)
Hebrew
2 entries- בְּהֵמָה noun (non-human animal)
- חַיָּה noun (non-human animal)
Higaonon
1 entries- langgam noun (non-human animal)
Hindi
4 entries- जंतु noun (non-human animal)
- जानवर noun (non-human animal)
- मृग noun (non-human animal)
- वहश noun (non-human animal)
Hungarian
3 entries- bestia noun (non-human animal)
- dög noun (non-human animal)
- vadállat noun (non-human animal)
Ido
1 entries- bestio noun (non-human animal)
Iranian Persian
2 entries- حِیوان noun (non-human animal)
- دَد noun (non-human animal)
Irish
1 entries- beithíoch noun (non-human animal)
Istriot
1 entries- bies'cia noun (non-human animal)
Italian
2 entries- belva noun (non-human animal)
- bestia noun (non-human animal)
Japanese
3 entries- 猛獣 noun (non-human animal)
- 獣 noun (non-human animal)
- 野獣 noun (non-human animal)
Kaingang
1 entries- mĩg noun (non-human animal)
Kapampangan
1 entries- ulimo noun (non-human animal)
Kashmiri
1 entries- جانور noun (non-human animal)
Kazakh
2 entries- аң noun (non-human animal)
- хайуан noun (non-human animal)
Korean
2 entries- 야수 noun (non-human animal)
- 짐승 noun (non-human animal)
Kyrgyz
3 entries- айбан noun (non-human animal)
- аң noun (non-human animal)
- жырткыч noun (non-human animal)
Latgalian
3 entries- dzeivnīks noun (non-human animal)
- zviers noun (non-human animal)
- žeivots noun (non-human animal)
Latin
2 entries- bēstia noun (non-human animal)
- fera noun (non-human animal)
Latvian
2 entries- dzīvnieks noun (non-human animal)
- zvērs noun (non-human animal)
Lithuanian
1 entries- žvėris noun (non-human animal)
Lower Sorbian
1 entries- zwěrje noun (non-human animal)
Macedonian
2 entries- животно noun (non-human animal)
- ѕвер noun (non-human animal)
Middle French
1 entries- beste noun (non-human animal)
Mongolian
2 entries- ан noun (non-human animal)
- араатан noun (non-human animal)
Nahuatl
1 entries- tecuani noun (non-human animal)
Northern Kurdish
2 entries- lawir noun (non-human animal)
- rawir noun (non-human animal)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- beist noun (non-human animal)
Occitan
2 entries- bèstia noun (non-human animal)
- fèra noun (non-human animal)
Old East Slavic
1 entries- звѣрь noun (non-human animal)
Old English
1 entries- dēor noun (non-human animal)
Old French
1 entries- beste noun (non-human animal)
Ottoman Turkish
2 entries- جاناوار noun (non-human animal)
- حیوان noun (non-human animal)
Pannonian Rusyn
1 entries- жвир noun (non-human animal)
Pashto
1 entries- ژوي noun (non-human animal)
Plautdietsch
1 entries- Tia noun (non-human animal)
Polish
2 entries- bestia noun (non-human animal)
- zwierzę noun (non-human animal)
Portuguese
2 entries- besta noun (non-human animal)
- fera noun (non-human animal)
Punjabi
3 entries- حَیوان noun (non-human animal)
- حَیوان noun (non-human animal)
- ਹੈਵਾਨ noun (non-human animal)
Romanian
2 entries- bestie noun (non-human animal)
- fiară noun (non-human animal)
Russian
4 entries- бе́стия noun (non-human animal)
- живо́тное noun (non-human animal)
- зверь noun (non-human animal)
- тварь noun (non-human animal)
Scottish Gaelic
2 entries- ainmhidh noun (non-human animal)
- beathach noun (non-human animal)
Serbo-Croatian
4 entries- zver noun (non-human animal)
- zverka noun (non-human animal)
- zvijer noun (non-human animal)
- zvijerka noun (non-human animal)
Slovak
4 entries- zver noun (non-human animal)
- zviera noun (non-human animal)
- šelma noun (non-human animal)
- živočích noun (non-human animal)
Slovene
2 entries- zver noun (non-human animal)
- žival noun (non-human animal)
Spanish
1 entries- bestia noun (non-human animal)
Swahili
1 entries- nunda noun (non-human animal)
Swedish
1 entries- best noun (non-human animal)
Tagalog
1 entries- halimaw noun (non-human animal)
Tajik
3 entries- дад noun (non-human animal)
- дарранда noun (non-human animal)
- ҳайвон noun (non-human animal)
Telugu
2 entries- జంతువు noun (non-human animal)
- మృగము noun (non-human animal)
Turkish
2 entries- canavar noun (non-human animal)
- hayvan noun (non-human animal)
Ukrainian
2 entries- звір noun (non-human animal)
- твари́на noun (non-human animal)
Upper Sorbian
1 entries- zwěrjo noun (non-human animal)
Urdu
1 entries- حَیوان noun (non-human animal)
Uzbek
1 entries- hayvon noun (non-human animal)
Volapük
3 entries- bestaf noun (non-human animal)
- lunim noun (non-human animal)
- nim noun (non-human animal)
Yiddish
1 entries- בעסטיע noun (non-human animal)
Sample sentences
32 total sentences available.
The food was not fit for man or beast.
Source: tatoeba (46140)
The primitive man was frightened at the sign of the beast.
Source: tatoeba (239459)
The primitive man was frightened at the sight of a savage beast.
Source: tatoeba (239460)
Showing 4 of 32 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "beast"?
Closest matches include animal, brute, creature, animal, animal kingdom member.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "beast"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.