savage

savage

adjective

Definition of SAVAGE

1

not civilized <Tarzan is usually portrayed as a noble but savage warrior of the jungle>

Synonyms barbarian, barbaric, barbarous, heathen, heathenish, natural, Neanderthal (or Neandertal), rude, uncivil, uncivilized, uncultivated, wild

Related Words coarse, crude, primitive, rough; uncouth, uncultured

Near Antonyms cultured, enlightened, humane, sophisticated; genteel, polished, polite, refined, urbane, well-bred; semicivilized

Antonyms civilized

2

having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others <a savage attack on a helpless person>

Synonyms atrocious, barbaric, barbarous, brutal, brute, butcherly, fiendish, heartless, inhuman, inhumane, sadistic, savage, truculent, vicious, wanton

Related Words hard-hearted, ironhearted, merciless, pitiless, ruthless, stonyhearted, unfeeling; fell, ferocious, grim; bloodthirsty, cutthroat, murderous, sanguinary, sanguine; catty, despiteful, hateful, malevolent, malicious, malign, malignant, mean, nasty, spiteful, vindictive; draconian, draconic, hardhanded, harsh, heavy-handed, oppressive

Near Antonyms tender, warm, warmhearted; charitable, clement, lenient, merciful, pitying; pacific, peaceable, peaceful

Antonyms benign, benignant, compassionate, good-hearted, humane, kind, kindhearted, sympathetic, tenderhearted

3

living outdoors without taming or domestication by humans <savage beasts that seemed threatening to the tourists>

Synonyms feral, savage, unbroken, undomesticated, untamed, wilding

Related Words uncontrolled, undocile, unsubdued, untrained; bestial, brutal, brute; barbarous, uncivilized

Near Antonyms controlled, docile, familiar, semidomesticated, subdued, submissive; halterbroken, housebroken, trained; civilized, semicivilized, socialized

Antonyms broken, busted, domestic, domesticated, gentled, tame, tamed

4

violently unfriendly or aggressive in disposition <early explorers avoided those areas that were rumored to be inhabited by savage natives>

Synonyms fell, ferocious, grim, savage, vicious

Related Words argumentative, assaultive, bellicose, belligerent, brawly, chippy, combative, confrontational, discordant, disputatious, feisty, gladiatorial, militant, pugnacious, scrappy, warlike; bare-knuckle (also bare-knuckled or bare-knuckles), blood-and-guts, in-your-face, take-no-prisoners; contentious, quarrelsome, truculent; menacing, threatening; bestial, brute, inhuman, inhumane; barbaric, uncivilized, wild; heartless, implacable, merciless, pitiless, relentless, ruthless, unrelenting, wanton; bloodthirsty, bloody, homicidal, murdering, murderous, sanguinary, sanguine; rapacious, ravenous, voracious

Near Antonyms amicable, companionable, comradely, congenial, cordial, friendly, genial, hearty, warm, warmhearted; compliant, submissive, tame; benign, compassionate, kind, merciful; pacific, peaceable, peaceful; amiable, complaisant, obliging; human, humane; civilized, cultured

Antonyms gentle, mild, unaggressive