savage definition - Dictionary

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savage

sav·age [ sávvij ]

adjective

Definition:

1. violent: unrestrained, violent, or vicious

2. brutal: brutal and severe

savage cuts in funding

3. undomesticated: living wild, beyond the control of people

savage beasts

4. offensive term: an offensive term meaning relating to a culture that is unfamiliar and perceived as inferior, especially one not using complex modern technologies

noun (plural sav·ag·es)

Definition:

1. vicious or violent person: somebody who enjoys treating people and animals cruelly and violently

2. offensive term: an offensive term for a member of a people considered inferior to or not as advanced as your own group

transitive verb (past and past participle sav·aged, present participle sav·ag·ing, 3rd person present singular sav·ag·es)

Definition:

1. attack somebody or something violently: to attack somebody or something violently, viciously, and without restraint

2. criticize somebody or something cruelly: to criticize somebody or something cruelly and unrestrainedly

The same critics who praised her first book savaged her second.

[13th century. Via French sauvage< Latin silvaticus "wild" < silva "forest"]

sav·age·ly adverb

sav·age·ness noun

Word Usage


	The use of savage to refer to peoples not using complex modern technologies and with an unfamiliar culture was a feature of 19th-century and earlier English (Vouchsafe to show the sunshine of your face, that we, like savages, may worship it, Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost Act 5, Scene 2) but is regarded as inappropriate and offensive in current use.