savage

/ˈsævɪdʒ/

/ˈsævɪdʒ/

Other forms: savages; savaged; savaging; savagest; savager

A polar bear in a zoo might look like an adorable giant stuffed animal, but if you met a hungry one in its native environment, it would seem more savage — wild and fierce — than cute.

Describing an animal as savage means that it is true to its wild, ferocious nature, but if you describe a person or the actions of a person as savage, it means "cruel" or "brutal." A place can also be described as savage if it's untamed, uninhabitable, and unwelcoming. When savage takes the form of a noun, it means "a brutal person," and when it's a verb it means "to attack ferociously." Any way you use it, savage is uncivilized and violent.

Definitions of savage

1. adjective

   without civilizing influences
   “a savage people”

   synonyms: barbarian, barbaric, uncivilised, uncivilized, wild

   noncivilised, noncivilized

   not having a high state of culture and social development
2. adjective

   wild and menacing
   synonyms: feral, ferine

   untamed, wild

   wild, free, and not controlled or touched by humans
3. adjective

   (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
   “a savage slap”

   synonyms: barbarous, brutal, cruel, fell, roughshod, vicious

   inhumane

   reflecting lack of pity or compassion
4. adjective

   marked by extreme and violent energy
   synonyms: ferocious, fierce, furious

   violent

   acting with or marked by or resulting from great force or energy or emotional intensity
5. noun

   a member of an uncivilized people
   synonyms: barbarian

   examples:

   Odovacar

   Germanic barbarian leader who ended the Western Roman Empire in 476 and became the first barbarian ruler of Italy (434-493)

   types:

   anthropophagite, anthropophagus, cannibal, man-eater

   a person who eats human flesh

   head-shrinker, headhunter

   a savage who cuts off and preserves the heads of enemies as trophies

   hunter-gatherer

   a member of a hunting and gathering society

   Vandal

   a member of the Germanic people who overran Gaul and Spain and North Africa and sacked Rome in 455

   type of:

   primitive, primitive person

   a person who belongs to an early stage of civilization
6. noun

   a cruelly rapacious person
   synonyms: beast, brute, wildcat, wolf

   type of:

   aggressor, assailant, assaulter, attacker

   someone who attacks
7. verb

   attack brutally and fiercely
   type of:

   assail, assault, attack, set on

   attack someone physically or emotionally
8. verb

   criticize harshly or violently
   “The press savaged the new President”

   synonyms: blast, crucify, pillory

   type of:

   criticise, criticize, knock, pick apart

   find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws