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Bully vs Brute - What's the difference?

bully | brute |

As nouns the difference between bully and brute

is that bully is a person who is cruel to others, especially those who are weaker or have less power while brute is an animal seen as being without human reason; a senseless beast.

As verbs the difference between bully and brute

is that bully is to intimidate (someone) as a bully while brute is obsolete spelling of lang=en.

As adjectives the difference between bully and brute

is that bully is very good; excellent while brute is without reason or intelligence (of animals).

As an interjection bully

is well done.

bully

English

(wikipedia bully)

Noun

  • A person who is cruel to others, especially those who are weaker or have less power.
    • A playground bully pushed a girl off the swing.
    I noticed you being a bully towards people with disabilities.
  • A noisy, blustering fellow, more insolent than courageous; one who is threatening and quarrelsome; an insolent, tyrannical fellow.
  • * Palmerston
    • Bullies seldom execute the threats they deal in.
  • A hired thug.
  • A prostitute’s minder; a pimp.
  • (uncountable) Bully beef.
  • (obsolete) A brisk, dashing fellow.
    • "Bully Bottom" from A Midsummer Night's Dream, III, i, 6.
  • The small scrum in the Eton College field game.
  • A small freshwater fish.

    • Synonyms

    * (hired thug) henchman, thug * (pimp) pimp, ponce

    Verb

    (en-verb)
  • To intimidate (someone) as a bully.
    • You shouldn't bully people for being gay.
  • To act aggressively towards.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011
    • , date=January 15 , author=Sam Sheringham , title=Chelsea 2 -03 Blackburn Rovers , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=The Potters know their strengths and played to them perfectly here, out-muscling Bolton in midfield and bullying the visitors' back-line at every opportunity. }}

    Synonyms

    * (intimidate) browbeat, hector, intimidate, ride roughshod over * (act aggressively toward) push around, ride roughshod over

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (US, slang) Very good; excellent.
    • a bully horse
  • (slang) Jovial and blustering; dashing.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Bless thee, bully doctor.

    Synonyms

    * (excellent) excellent, marvellous/marvelous, splendid, super, superb, top-notch

    Derived terms

    * bully boy * bully pulpit

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • (often, followed by for) Well done!
    • She's finally leaving her abusive husband — bully for her!

    Synonyms

    * bravo, well done, see also .

    brute

    English

    (wikipedia brute)

    Adjective

    (more)
  • Without reason or intelligence (of animals).
    • a brute beast
  • Characteristic of unthinking animals; senseless, unreasoning (of humans).
  • * Milton
    • A creature not prone / And brute as other creatures, but endued / With sanctity of reason.
  • Being unconnected with intelligence or thought; purely material, senseless.
    • the brute''' earth; the '''brute powers of nature
  • Crude, unpolished.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
    • a great brute farmer from Liddesdale
  • *
  • Strong, blunt, and spontaneous.
    • I punched him with brute force.
  • Brutal; cruel; fierce; ferocious; savage; pitiless.
    • brute violence

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • * 1714 , (Bernard Mandeville), The Fable of the Bees :
    • they laid before them how unbecoming it was the Dignity of such sublime Creatures to be sollicitous about gratifying those Appetites, which they had in common with Brutes , and at the same time unmindful of those higher qualities that gave them the preeminence over all visible Beings.
  • * 1946 , (Bertrand Russell), History of Western Philosophy , I.17:
    • But if he lives badly, he will, in the next life, be a woman; if he (or she) persists in evil-doing, he (or she) will become a brute , and go on through transmigrations until at last reason conquers.
  • A person with the characteristics of an unthinking animal; a coarse or brutal person.
    • One of them was a hulking brute of a man, heavily tattooed and with a hardened face that practically screamed "I just got out of jail."
  • *
    • She was frankly disappointed. For some reason she had thought to discover a burglar of one or another accepted type—either a dashing cracksman in full-blown evening dress, lithe, polished, pantherish, or a common yegg, a red-eyed, unshaven burly brute in the rags and tatters of a tramp.
  • (archaic, slang, UK, Cambridge University) One who has not yet matriculated.

    • Derived terms

    * brutal * brutality * brute force * brutish

    Verb

    (brut)

    • Anagrams

    * ----