Word Study
savage
CIDE DICTIONARY
savage, a. [F. sauvage, OF. salvage, fr. L. silvaticus belonging to a wood, wild, fr. silva a wood. See Silvan, and cf. Sylvatic.].
- Of or pertaining to the forest; remote from human abodes and cultivation; in a state of nature; wild; as, a savage wilderness. [1913 Webster]
- Wild; untamed; uncultivated; as, savage beasts. [1913 Webster]"Cornels, and savage berries of the wood." [1913 Webster]
- Uncivilized; untaught; unpolished; rude; as, savage life; savage manners. [1913 Webster]"What nation, since the commencement of the Christian era, ever rose from savage to civilized without Christianity?" [1913 Webster]
- Characterized by cruelty; barbarous; fierce; ferocious; inhuman; brutal; as, a savage spirit. [1913 Webster]
Syn. -- Ferocious; wild; uncultivated; untamed; untaught; uncivilized; unpolished; rude; brutish; brutal; heathenish; barbarous; cruel; inhuman; fierce; pitiless; merciless; unmerciful; atrocious. See Ferocious.
savage, n.
- A human being in his native state of rudeness; one who is untaught, uncivilized, or without cultivation of mind or manners. [1913 Webster]
- A man of extreme, unfeeling, brutal cruelty; a barbarian. [1913 Webster]
savage, v. t.
To make savage. [1913 Webster]
"Its bloodhounds, savaged by a cross of wolf." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
savage, adj., n., & v.
--adj.
1 fierce; cruel (savage persecution; a savage blow).
2 wild; primitive (savage tribes; a savage animal).
3 archaic (of scenery etc.) uncultivated (a savage scene).
4 colloq. angry; bad-tempered (in a savage mood).
5 Heraldry (of the human figure) naked.
--n.
1 Anthropol. derog. a member of a primitive tribe.
2 a cruel or barbarous person.
--v.tr.
1 (esp. of a dog, wolf, etc.) attack and bite or trample.
2 (of a critic etc.) attack fiercely.
--adj.
1 fierce; cruel (savage persecution; a savage blow).
2 wild; primitive (savage tribes; a savage animal).
3 archaic (of scenery etc.) uncultivated (a savage scene).
4 colloq. angry; bad-tempered (in a savage mood).
5 Heraldry (of the human figure) naked.
--n.
1 Anthropol. derog. a member of a primitive tribe.
2 a cruel or barbarous person.
--v.tr.
1 (esp. of a dog, wolf, etc.) attack and bite or trample.
2 (of a critic etc.) attack fiercely.
Derivative
savagedom n. savagely adv. savageness n. savagery n. (pl. -ies).
Etymology
ME f. OF sauvage wild f. L silvaticus f. silva a wood
THESAURUS
savage
Draconian, Goth, Gothic, Mafioso, Neanderthal, Tartarean, Young Turk, abrade, abuse, afflict, aggressive, aggrieve, agonize, animal, antagonistic, anthropophagite, anthropophagous, assault, atrocious, attack, baneful, barbarian, barbaric, barbarize, barbarous, bark, batter, battling, beast, beastly, befoul, beldam, bellicose, belligerent, berserk, berserker, bestial, bewitch, blemish, blight, bloodthirsty, bloody, bloody-minded, bomber, break, bruise, brutal, brutalize, brutalized, brute, brutish, buffet, burn, butcher, cannibal, cannibalistic, carry on, chafe, chauvinist, chauvinistic, check, chip, claw, coldhearted, combative, condemn, contentious, convulse, corrupt, crack, craze, crucify, cruel, cruel-hearted, curse, cut, damage, deadly, death-bringing, deathful, deathly, defile, demon, demoniac, demoniacal, demonic, deprave, despoil, destroy, destroyer, destructive, devil, devilish, diabolic, disadvantage, disserve, distress, do a mischief, do evil, do ill, do violence to, do wrong, do wrong by, do wrong to, doom, dragon, enemy, enraged, envenom, excruciate, fatal, fell, feral, ferine, ferocious, fiend, fiendish, fiendlike, fierce, fighting, fighting mad, fire-eater, firebrand, fracture, fray, frazzle, fret, full of fight, fuming, furious, fury, gall, gash, get into trouble, go on, goon, gorilla, grim, gunsel, hammer, harass, hardnose, harm, harrow, harsh, hawkish, heartless, hell-raiser, hellcat, hellhound, hellion, hellish, hex, holy terror, hood, hoodlum, hopping mad, hostile, hothead, hotspur, hurt, hyena, ill-bred, ill-treat, ill-use, impair, impale, implacable, impolite, in a rage, incendiary, incise, infect, infernal, infuriate, infuriated, inhuman, inhumane, inimical, injure, internecine, jingo, jingoish, jingoist, jingoistic, jinx, kill by inches, kill-crazy, killer, killing, knock about, lacerate, lancinate, lay waste, lethal, loot, macerate, mad dog, madcap, maim, make mincemeat of, malign, malignant, maltreat, man-eater, manhandle, martial, martyr, martyrize, maul, menace, merciless, militant, militaristic, military, mishandle, mistreat, molest, monster, mortal, mug, mugger, murderous, mutilate, nihilist, noncivilized, offensive, outlandish, outrage, pernicious, persecute, pierce, pillage, pitiless, play havoc with, play hob with, poison, pollute, prejudice, primeval, primitive, pugnacious, puncture, punish, quarrelsome, rabid, rack, rage, raging, ramp, rampage, rant, ranting, rapacious, rape, rapist, rave, ravenous, raving, raving mad, relentless, rend, revolutionary, riot, rip, roar, roaring mad, rough, rough up, rough-and-ready, rude, rugged, ruin, run, rupture, ruthless, saber-rattling, sack, sadistic, sanguinary, sanguineous, satanic, scald, scarify, scathe, scorch, scotch, scrape, scrappy, scratch, scuff, shark, sharkish, she-wolf, skin, slash, slaughter, slavering, slit, soldierlike, soldierly, sow chaos, spitfire, sprain, stab, stick, storm, storming, strain, subhuman, taint, tameless, tear, tear around, termagant, terror, terrorist, terrorize, threaten, tiger, tigress, torment, torture, tough, tough guy, traumatize, trigger-happy, troglodyte, troglodytic, truculent, ugly customer, unbroken, unchristian, uncivil, uncivilized, uncombed, uncontrolled, uncouth, uncultivated, uncultured, undomesticated, unfriendly, ungentle, unhuman, unkempt, unlicked, unmerciful, unpacific, unpeaceful, unpolished, unrefined, unrelenting, unsubdued, untamed, vandal, vandalize, vicious, violate, violent, virago, virulent, vixen, voracious, warlike, warmongering, warring, wild, wild beast, wild man, witch, wolf, wolfish, wound, wreak havoc on, wreck, wrecker, wrench, wring, wrongROGET THESAURUS
savage
Violence
N violence, inclemency, vehemence, might, impetuosity, boisterousness, effervescence, ebullition, turbulence, bluster, uproar, callithump, riot, row, rumpus, le diable a quatre, devil to pay, all the fat in the fire, severity, ferocity, rage, fury, exacerbation, exasperation, malignity, fit, paroxysm, orgasm, climax, aphrodisia, force, brute force, outrage, coup de main, strain, shock, shog, spasm, convulsion, throe, hysterics, passion, outbreak, outburst, debacle, burst, bounce, dissilience, discharge, volley, explosion, blow up, blast, detonation, rush, eruption, displosion, torrent, turmoil, ferment, storm, tempest, rough weather, squall, earthquake, volcano, thunderstorm, berserk, berserker, fury, dragon, demon, tiger, beldame, Tisiphone, Megaera, Alecto, madcap, wild beast, fire eater, violent, vehement, warm, acute, sharp, rough, rude, ungentle, bluff, boisterous, wild, brusque, abrupt, waspish, impetuous, rampant, turbulent, disorderly, blustering, raging, troublous, riotous, tumultuary, tumultuous, obstreperous, uproarious, extravagant, unmitigated, ravening, inextinguishable, tameless, frenzied, desperate, infuriate, furious, outrageous, frantic, hysteric, in hysterics, fiery, flaming, scorching, hot, red-hot, ebullient, savage, fierce, ferocious, fierce as a tiger, excited, unquelled, unquenched, unextinguished, unrepressed, unbridled, unruly, headstrong, ungovernable, unappeasable, immitigable, unmitigable, uncontrollable, incontrollable, insuppressible, irrepressible, orgastic, orgasmatic, orgasmic, spasmodic, convulsive, explosive, detonating, volcanic, meteoric, stormy, violently, amain, by storm, by force, by main force, with might and main, tooth and nail, vi et armis, at the point of the sword, at the point of the bayonet, at one fell swoop, with a high hand, through thick and thin, in desperation, with a vengeance, a outrance, a toute outrance, headlong, head foremost, furor arma ministrat, blown with restless violence round about the pende.Vulgarity
N vulgarity, vulgarism, barbarism, Vandalism, Gothicism, mauvis gout, bad taste, gaucherie, awkwardness, want of tact, ill-breeding, courseness, indecorum, misbehavior, lowness, homeliness, low life, mauvais ton, rusticity, boorishness, brutality, rowdyism, blackguardism, ribaldry, slang, bad joke, mauvais plaisanterie, gaudiness, tawdriness, false ornament, finery, frippery, trickery, tinsel, gewgaw, clinquant, baroque, rococo, rough diamond, tomboy, hoyden, cub, unlicked cub, clown, Goth, Vandal, Boeotian, snob, cad, gent, parvenu, frump, dowdy, slattern, in bad taste vulgar, unrefined, coarse, indecorous, ribald, gross, unseemly, unbeseeming, unpresentable, contra bonos mores, ungraceful, dowdy, slovenly, ungenteel, shabby genteel, low, common, hoi polloi, uncourtly, uncivil, ill bred, ill mannered, underbred, ungentlemanly, ungentlemanlike, unladylike, unfeminine, wild, wild as an unbacked colt, untutored, unschooled (ignorant), unkempt, uncombed, untamed, unlicked, unpolished, uncouth, plebeian, incondite, heavy, rude, awkward, homely, homespun, home bred, provincial, countrified, rustic, boorish, clownish, savage, brutish, blackguard, rowdy, snobbish, barbarous, barbaric, Gothic, unclassical, doggerel, heathenish, tramontane, outlandish, uncultivated, Bohemian, obsolete, unfashionable, newfangled, odd, particular, affected, meretricious, extravagant, monstrous, horrid, shocking, gaudy, tawdry, overornamented, baroque, rococo, bedizened, tricked out, gingerbread, obtrusive.Courage
N courage, bravery, valor, resoluteness, boldness, spirit, daring, gallantry, intrepidity, contempt of danger, defiance of danger, derring-do, audacity, rashness, dash, defiance, confidence, self-reliance, manliness, manhood, nerve, pluck, mettle, game, heart, heart of grace, spunk, guts, face, virtue, hardihood, fortitude, intestinal fortitude, firmness, heart of oak, bottom, backbone, spine, resolution, bulldog courage, prowess, heroism, chivalry, exploit, feat, achievement, heroic deed, heroic act, bold stroke, man, man of mettle, hero, demigod, Amazon, Hector, lion, tiger, panther, bulldog, gamecock, fighting-cock, bully, fire eater, courageous, brave, valiant, valorous, gallant, intrepid, spirited, spiritful, high-spirited, high-mettled, mettlesome, plucky, manly, manful, resolute, stout, stout-hearted, iron-hearted, lion-hearted, heart of oak, Penthesilean, bold, bold-spirited, daring, audacious, fearless, dauntless, dreadless, aweless, undaunted, unappalled, undismayed, unawed, unblanched, unabashed, unalarmed, unflinching, unshrinking, unblanching, unapprehensive, confident, self-reliant, bold as a lion, bold as brass, enterprising, adventurous, venturous, venturesome, dashing, chivalrous, soldierly, heroic, fierce, savage, pugnacious, strong-minded, hardy, doughty, firm, determined, dogged, indomitable, up to, up to the scratch, upon one's mettle, reassured, unfeared, undreaded, one's blood being up, courage sans peur, fortes fortuna adjuvat, have I not in my time heard lions roar, I dare do all that may become a man, male vincetis sed vincite, omne solum forti patria, self-trust is the essence of heroism, stimulos dedit oemula virtus, strong and great, a hero, teloque animus proestantior omni, there, is always safety in valor, virtus ariete fortier.Commonalty
N commonality, commonalty, democracy, obscurity, low condition, low life, low society, low company, bourgeoisie, mass of the people, mass of society, Brown Jones and Robinson, lower classes, humbler classes, humbler orders, vulgar herd, common herd, rank and file, hoc genus omne, the many, the general, the crowd, the people, the populace, the multitude, the million, the masses, the mobility, the peasantry, king Mob, proletariat, fruges consumere nati, demos, hoi polloi, great unwashed, man in the street, mob, rabble, rabble rout, chaff, rout, horde, canaille, scum of the people, residuum of the people, dregs of the people, dregs of society, swinish multitude, foex populi, trash, profanum vulgus, ignobile vulgus, vermin, riffraff, ragtag and bobtail, small fry, commoner, one of the people, democrat, plebeian, republican, proletary, proletaire, roturier, Mr, Snooks, bourgeois, epicier, Philistine, cockney, grisette, demimonde, peasant, countryman, boor, carle, churl, villain, villein, terrae filius, son of the land, serf, kern, tyke, tike, chuff, ryot, fellah, longshoreman, swain, clown, hind, clod, clodhopper, hobnail, yokel, bog-trotter, bumpkin, plowman, plowboy, rustic, hayseed, lunkhead, chaw-bacon, tiller of the soil, hewers of wood and drawers of water, groundling, gaffer, loon, put, cub, Tony Lumpkin, looby, rube, lout, underling, gamin, rough, pot- wallopper, slubberdegullion, vulgar fellow, low fellow, cad, curmudgeon, upstart, parvenu, skipjack, nobody, nobody one knows, hesterni quirites, pessoribus orti, bourgeois gentilhomme, novus homo, snob, gent, mushroom, no one knows who, adventurer, man of straw, beggar, gaberlunzie, muckworm, mudlark, sans culotte, raff, tatterdemalion, caitiff, ragamuffin, Pariah, outcast of society, tramp, vagabond, bezonian, panhandler, sundowner, chiffonnier, Cinderella, cinderwench, scrub, jade, gossoon, Goth, Vandal, Hottentot, Zulu, savage, barbarian, Yahoo, unlicked cub, rough diamond, barbarousness, barbarism, boeotia, ignoble, common, mean, low, base, vile, sorry, scrubby, beggarly, below par, no great shakes, homely, homespun, vulgar, low-minded, snobbish, plebeian, proletarian, of low parentage, of low origin, of low extraction, of mean parentage, of mean origin, of mean extraction, lowborn, baseborn, earthborn, mushroom, dunghill, risen from the ranks, unknown to fame, obscure, untitled, rustic, uncivilized, loutish, boorish, clownish, churlish, brutish, raffish, rude, unlicked, barbarous, barbarian, barbaric, barbaresque, cockney, born within sound of Bow bells, underling, menial, subaltern, below the salt, dummodo sit dives barbarus ipse placet.Resentment
N resentment, displeasure, animosity, anger, wrath, indignation, exasperation, bitter resentment, wrathful indignation, pique, umbrage, huff, miff, soreness, dudgeon, acerbity, virulence, bitterness, acrimony, asperity, spleen, gall, heart-burning, heart-swelling, rankling, ill humor, bad humor, ill temper, bad temper, irascibility, ill blood, revenge, excitement, irritation, warmth, bile, choler, ire, fume, pucker, dander, ferment, ebullition, towering passion, acharnement, angry mood, taking, pet, tiff, passion, fit, tantrums, burst, explosion, paroxysm, storm, rage, fury, desperation, violence, fire and fury, vials of wrath, gnashing of teeth, hot blood, high words, scowl, sulks, affront, provocation, offense, indignity, grudge, crow to pluck, bone to pick, sore subject, casus belli, ill turn, outrage, Furies, Eumenides, buffet, slap in the face, box on the ear, rap on the knuckles, angry, wrath, irate, ireful, wrathful, cross, Achillean, sulky, bitter, virulent, acrimonious &c (discourteous), violent, warm, burning, boiling, boiling over, fuming, raging, foaming, foaming at the mouth, convulsed with rage, offended, waxy, acharne, wrought, worked up, indignant, hurt, sore, set against, fierce, wild, rageful, furious, mad with rage, fiery, infuriate, rabid, savage, relentless, flushed with anger, flushed with rage, in a huff, in a stew, in a fume, in a pucker, in a passion, in a rage, in a fury, in a taking, in a way, on one's high ropes, up in arms, in high dudgeon, angrily, in the height of passion, in the heat of passion, in the heat of the moment, Int, tantaene animis coelestibus irae!, marry come up!, zounds!, 'sdeath!, one's blood being up, one's back being up, one's monkey being up, fervens difficili bile jecur, the gorge rising, eyes flashing fire, the blood rising, the blood boiling, haeret lateri lethalis arundo, beware the fury of a patient man, furor arma ministrat, ira furor brevis est, quem Jupiter vult perdere dementat prius, What, drunk with choler?.Malevolence
N malevolence, bad intent, bad intention, unkindness, diskindness, ill nature, ill will, ill blood, bad blood, enmity, hate, malignity, malice, malice prepense, maliciousness, spite, despite, resentment, uncharitableness, incompassionateness, gall, venom, rancor, rankling, virulence, mordacity, acerbity churlishness, hardness of heart, heart of stone, obduracy, cruelty, cruelness, brutality, savagery, ferity, ferocity, barbarity, inhumanity, immanity, truculence, ruffianism, evil eye, cloven foot, torture, vivisection, ill turn, bad turn, affront, outrage, atrocity, ill usage, intolerance, persecution, tender mercies, unkindest cut of all, malevolent, unbenevolent, unbenign, ill-disposed, ill-intentioned, ill-natured, ill-conditioned, ill-contrived, evil-minded, evil- disposed, black-browed, malicious, malign, malignant, rancorous, despiteful, spiteful, mordacious, caustic, bitter, envenomed, acrimonious, virulent, unamiable, uncharitable, maleficent, venomous, grinding, galling, harsh, disobliging, unkind, unfriendly, ungracious, inofficious, invidious, uncandid, churlish, surly, sullen, cold, cold-blooded, cold-hearted, black-hearted, hard-hearted, flint-hearted, marble-hearted, stony-hearted, hard of heart, unnatural, ruthless, relentless, cruel, brutal, brutish, savage, savage as a bear, savage as a tiger, ferine, ferocious, inhuman, barbarous, barbaric, semibarbaric, fell, untamed, tameless, truculent, incendiary, bloodthirsty, atrocious, bloodyminded, fiendish, fiendlike, demoniacal, diabolic, diabolical, devilish, infernal, hellish, Satanic, Tartaran, malevolently, with bad intent, cruel as death, hard unkindness' alter'd eye, homo homini lupus, mala mens, malus animus, rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind, sharp-tooth'd unkindness.Evil doer
N evil doer, evil worker, wrongdoer, mischief-maker, marplot, oppressor, tyrant, destroyer, Vandal, iconoclast, firebrand, incendiary, fire bug, pyromaniac, anarchist, communist, terrorist, savage, brute, ruffian, barbarian, semibarbarian, caitiff, desperado, Apache, hoodlum, hood, plug-ugly, Red Skin, tough, Mohawk, Mo-hock, Mo-hawk, bludgeon man, bully, rough, hooligan, larrikin, dangerous classes, ugly customer, thief, cockatrice, scorpion, hornet, snake, viper, adder, snake in the grass, serpent, cobra, asp, rattlesnake, anaconda, canker-worm, wire-worm, locust, Colorado beetle, alacran, alligator, caymon, crocodile, mosquito, mugger, octopus, torpedo, bane, cutthroat, cannibal, anthropophagus, anthropophagist, bloodsucker, vampire, ogre, ghoul, gorilla, vulture, gyrfalcon, gerfalcon, wild beast, tiger, hyena, butcher, hangman, blood-hound, hell- hound, sleuth-hound, catamount, cougar, jaguar, puma, hag, hellhag, beldam, Jezebel, monster, fiend, devil incarnate, demon in human shape, Frankenstein's monster, harpy, siren, Furies, Eumenides, Hun, Attila, scourge of the human race, faenum habet in cornu.For further exploring for "savage" in Webster Dictionary Online