beastlier; beastliest
1
a
: relating to, characteristic of, or resembling an animal : bestial sense 1
beastly strength
Their languages, with complex clicks, were once dismissed as a guttural farrago of beastly sounds.—
Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould
b
: characterized by cruelty, brutality, or crudeness
Yet this beastly little man was capable of exquisite humor and tenderness.—Edmund Morris
Edmund Morris2
informal
: extremely unpleasant, disagreeable, or undesirable
beastly weather
It took him ages to get the beastly stuff out of his eyes and eyebrows, and as for his beard, he had to cut most of it off.—J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. TolkienAt the beastly hour of 9:40 a.m. we trudged up to our nosebleed seats, wobbling like prizefighters in the final round, for the NFL preseason game between the Chargers and the Denver Broncos …—Gary Smith
Gary Smith3
: monstrously large or powerful
… the staging area was packed with an eclectic mix of vehicles, from humble hatchbacks to beastly trucks.—Lisa Rose
Lisa RoseWorkers with acetylene torches and a beastly contraption called the "dinosaur" are chewing quickly through the rusting old railroad tunnel …—Tim O'Neill
Tim O'Neill
beastliness
noun
chiefly British, informal
: to an extreme and usually unpleasant degree
"It's no good pretending it isn't an awkward situation," continued Bob, "because it is. Beastly awkward."—P. G. Wodehouse
: in an unpleasant or beastly manner
P. G. Wodehouse… an ideological predisposition to believe the Soviet Union will embrace comity if only Washington doesn't act beastly.—Woody West
Woody WestSynonyms
Adjective
Adverb
- achingly
- almighty
- archly
- awful
- awfully
- badly
- blisteringly
- bone
- colossally
- corking
- cracking
- damn
- damned
- dang
- deadly
- desperately
- eminently
- enormously
- especially
- ever
- exceedingly
- exceeding
- extra
- extremely
- fabulously
- fantastically
- far
- fiercely
- filthy
- frightfully
- full
- greatly
- heavily
- highly
- hugely
- immensely
- incredibly
- intensely
- jolly
- majorly
- mightily
- mighty
- monstrous [chiefly dialect]
- mortally
- most
- much
- particularly
- passing
- rattling
- real
- really
- right
- roaring
- roaringly
- seriously
- severely
- so
- sore
- sorely
- spanking
- specially
- stinking
- such
- super
- supremely
- surpassingly
- terribly
- that
- thumping
- too
- unco
- uncommonly
- vastly
- very
- vitally
- way
- whacking
- wicked
- wildly
Examples of beastly in a Sentence
Adjective
left to shift for himself on an isolated farm, he gradually sank into a beastly, purposeless existence
Adverb
it's beastly hot today
Recent Examples on the Web
Dana Hunsinger Benbow, The Indianapolis Star, 7 Oct. 2024
Star Wars icon Mark Hamill mourns Darth Vader actor James Earl Jones: 'RIP dad'
One of Jones' most beloved roles was the kindly Mr. Mertle, the owner of the beastly Hercules and Goliath in The Sandlot and The Sandlot 2.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 10 Sep. 2024
Laylan Connelly, Orange County Register, 26 May 2024
As part of the intake stroke, a supercharger pulls and squeezes air into the engine to create that beastly whine.
—Kristin Shaw, Popular Science, 3 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for beastly 
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Adjective
This relapse tumor meant Trent was battling a beastly form of the disease.
—Dana Hunsinger Benbow, The Indianapolis Star, 7 Oct. 2024
Star Wars icon Mark Hamill mourns Darth Vader actor James Earl Jones: 'RIP dad'
One of Jones' most beloved roles was the kindly Mr. Mertle, the owner of the beastly Hercules and Goliath in The Sandlot and The Sandlot 2.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 10 Sep. 2024
Adverb
For the surfers ready to take on the beautiful, beastly wave called Teahupo’o, riding inside the deep barrel could mean the thrill of their life – or a dangerous dance with disaster.
—Laylan Connelly, Orange County Register, 26 May 2024
As part of the intake stroke, a supercharger pulls and squeezes air into the engine to create that beastly whine.
—Kristin Shaw, Popular Science, 3 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for beastly
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Dictionary Entries Near beastly
Cite this Entry
“Beastly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beastly. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
beastly
1 of 2 adjective
beast·ly
ˈbēst-lē 
beastlier; beastliest
1
: of, relating to, or resembling a beast : bestial
2
informal
: disagreeable sense 1, unpleasant
beastly weather
beastliness
noun
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