beast

noun

\ ˈbēst

Definition of beast

1a : a four-footed mammal as distinguished from a human being, a lower vertebrate, and an invertebrate

b : a lower animal as distinguished from a human being

c : an animal as distinguished from a plant

d : an animal under human control

2 : a contemptible person

3 : something formidably difficult to control or deal with

Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about beast

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Examples of beast in a Sentence

dogs and other four-footed beasts the birds and beasts of the forest They were attacked by a savage beast. He's a cruel, hateful beast!

Recent Examples on the Web

Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma! is another beast entirely, using a grab bag of experimental theater tropes (and terrific new country-western orchestrations) to find the dark heart beneath this sunny American classic. — Adam Green, Vogue, "Takeaways From the 2019 Tony Nominations: Downtown Comes to Broadway," 30 Apr. 2019 Among the civic emotions, outrage is a beast of the prime; to harness outrage is to discover fire. — Lance Morrow, WSJ, "America Is Addicted to Outrage. Is There a Cure?," 30 Nov. 2018 Some of them can go very fast—the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio, BMW 640i GT, and the Maserati Levante come to mind—but the McLaren 570S Spider is quite a different beast. — Eric Bangeman, Ars Technica, "Nine things I learned from driving a supercar for three days," 9 Nov. 2018 Since the early 1980s, the company has used its marketing to challenge the status quo — to say to be a beast on the basketball court, not a role model for anyone’s kids. — Jane Coaston, Vox, "Nike has made billions selling rebellion to young people," 6 Sep. 2018 The students morphed the idea for creating a beast on the island into creating a bully at school. — Julie Gallant, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Students take initiative to perform "Stop Bullying" play," 25 May 2018 NickiDay — Ray -- (@_BluRay__) April 12, 2018 yoooo, Nicki went beast on BARBIE TINGZ ------ beat crazy. — Nerisha Penrose, Billboard, "Nicki Minaj's 'Chun-Li' & 'Barbie Tingz' Arrive: Read the Excited Fan Reactions," 12 Apr. 2018 Mississippi State’s 6-foot-7 center is a beast on the low block and a big problem in the paint. — Tim Sullivan, The Courier-Journal, "Mississippi State's McCowan, who is 'just taller and stronger,' poses a problem for Louisville," 29 Mar. 2018 In an effort to capture its scale, four researchers hold the brawny beast up for the camera: Snakes thrive in the humid swamplands south of Miami, with 100,000 pythons alone crawling throughout the the 729,000-acre park, according to CNN. — Sam Blum, Popular Mechanics, "Researchers Capture the Biggest Snake Ever Found in the Florida Everglades," 8 Apr. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'beast.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.