Adjective brutal has 3 senses
- brutal, cruel - (of weapons or instruments) causing suffering and pain; "brutal instruments of torture"; "cruel weapons of war"
Antonym: humane (indirect, via inhumane)
- barbarous, brutal, cruel, fell, roughshod, savage, vicious - (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering; "a barbarous crime"; "brutal beatings"; "cruel tortures"; "Stalin's roughshod treatment of the kulaks"; "a savage slap"; "vicious kicks"
Antonym: humane (indirect, via inhumane)
- brutal, cruel, harsh, rigorous, unkind - used of circumstances (especially weather) that cause suffering; "brutal weather"; "northern winters can be cruel"; "a cruel world"; "a harsh climate"; "a rigorous climate"; "unkind winters"
Antonym: soft (indirect, via hard)
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