brunt
noun
\
Definition of brunt
1 : the principal force, shock, or stress (as of an attack) bear the brunt of the storm the brunt of the struggle with the German army fell upon the Russians— Walter Lippmann
2 : the greater part : burden
Keep scrolling for more
Synonyms for brunt
Synonyms
body, bulk, chief, core, generality, main, mass, staple, weight
Visit the Thesaurus for More
Examples of brunt in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
June has felt the brunt of Gilead’s extreme sexism as the rebellious handmaid of Commander Waterford (Joseph Fiennes). — refinery29.com, "The Handmaid's Tale Still Has A White Female Privilege Problem," 11 July 2018 Countries whose debt is issued in dollars particularly feel the brunt of rising yields, some analysts said, since the strength of the dollar often increases alongside Treasury yields. — Orla Mccaffrey, WSJ, "Government Bond Yields Climbed in 2nd Quarter on Trade Tensions, Slower Growth," 30 June 2018 Before the sectional tournament a year ago, Falkenstein felt the brunt of an elbow from Floyd Central’s Braxton Cerqueria in a play near second base. — Kenzie Winstead, The Courier-Journal, "Shortstop Bailey Falkenstein hopes to help Jeffersonville at sectional," 22 May 2018 Even as national GDPs grow and more citizens gain access to education and health services, communities surrounding mining sites feel the brunt of the mining industry’s downsides, rather than benefits. — Renard Sexton, Washington Post, "China is fueling a new ‘resource curse’ — and riots around the world," 25 Apr. 2018 Webber felt trapped and took the brunt of the blame for the scandal. — Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press, "Chris Webber ready to return to Michigan, despite wounds still not healed," 29 June 2018 The airport is pouring $74 million into replacing the 75-foot center portion of the north runway — the area that takes the brunt of the impact from plane landings — with concrete. — Chabeli Herrera, miamiherald, "A million fewer people will fly out of Fort Lauderdale airport next summer. Here's why," 19 June 2018 China will bear the brunt of a trade war with the US, says Yu Miaojie, deputy director of the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University in Beijing. — Molly Jackson, The Christian Science Monitor, "In a US-China trade war, big losers include ... BMW? Taiwan?," 12 July 2018 Even though companies like McDonald’s produce more garbage than local eateries, small businesses would bear the brunt of styrofoam bans. — Camille Harmer, Fortune, "How Banning Plastic Straws Could Make Pollution Even Worse," 12 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'brunt.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for brunt
brunt
noun
\
Kids Definition of brunt
: the main force or stress (as of an attack) The coast received the brunt of the storm.
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on brunt
What made you want to look up brunt? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Great Scrabble Words—A Quiz
-
- Which of the following Q-without-U words means the number five in cards or dice?
Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
-
Great Scrabble Words—A Quiz
Words to improve your Scrabble game
Take the quiz -
Which Came First? Quiz
Do you know which word is older?
Take the quiz -
Name That Thing
Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!
Take the quiz -
SCRABBLE® Sprint
SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!
Play the game
Share brunt
Resources for brunt