as in brute
having or showing the nature and appetites of a lower animal
with animalistic fury the boxer tore into his opponent
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Recent Examples of animalistic
Scary Farm visitors will enter the maze as military recruits arriving at the secret lab to be transformed into animalistic super soldiers using one of three methods — surgery, chemical treatments or genetic mutations.
—
Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 12 Sep. 2025
The key characters share in their alterity and summon the animalistic archetype of the stray, behaviorally and physiologically.
—Olivia Bennett, Variety, 12 Aug. 2025
Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 12 Sep. 2025
The key characters share in their alterity and summon the animalistic archetype of the stray, behaviorally and physiologically.
—Olivia Bennett, Variety, 12 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for animalistic
Adjective
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The developers sprinkle puzzle elements into some dungeons while also adding moments where stealth is more useful and efficient than brute force.—
Gieson Cacho,
Mercury News,
26 Sep. 2025
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Among the colorful cast of rogues, villains, queens and clergymen, Andre The Giant stands out as the young suitor’s kind-hearted but stupid brute.—
Duane Byrge,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Marvell had a brutal start to the year, in part due to worries about its custom chip business, but shares have been creeping up lately.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
25 Sep. 2025
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The Dallas Cowboys are fresh off of a brutal blowout loss to the Chicago Bears in Week 3.—
Evan Massey,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The roughly 5-month-old kitten got a fresh start after he and his littermates were found living in a colony of feral cats.—
Simone Jasper,
Charlotte Observer,
25 Sep. 2025
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Why does this guy — who seems nice enough and does have a generational voice but mostly just stood there and waved at phone cameras — have one of the biggest songs in the world and people going absolutely feral for him?—
Heather Bushman,
IndyStar,
24 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Channels the inner, bestial urges to release an unworldly howl that pushes back any nearby enemies.—
Oliver Brandt,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Aug. 2025
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His nemesis in this series was a bestial Wakandan in a gorilla suit called Man-Ape.—
Ekow Eshun
July 11,
Literary Hub,
11 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Animalistic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/animalistic. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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