beastly 1 of 2

adjective

ˈbēst-lē How to pronounce beastly (audio)
Definition of beastlynext
as in brute
having or showing the nature and appetites of a lower animal left to shift for himself on an isolated farm, he gradually sank into a beastly, purposeless existence

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

beastly

2 of 2

adverb

as in extremely
to a great degree it's beastly hot today

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of beastly
Adjective
Three of this beastly bunch were checked off during our six spectacular hours in Tsavo. — David Dickstein, Oc Register, 18 Mar. 2026 An American Werewolf in London' (1981) American dudes backpacking in England get attacked by a werewolf, one of them becomes a beastly nuisance on the full moon, and things get bloody freaky in old London Town. — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 13 Feb. 2026
Adverb
Logan is super skilled, beastly strong. — Jeff Fletcher, Oc Register, 24 Feb. 2026 In this tale as old as time, local bookworm Belle (Paige O'Hara) travels to a faraway castle where her father is being held captive by a prince–turned–beastly creature. — James Mercadante, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for beastly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for beastly
  1. brute
  2. extremely
  3. brutal
  4. very
  5. feral
  6. terribly
  7. incredibly
  8. damn
Adjective
  • The original 1960s cars had legendary status dominating the Monte Carlo Rally, outmaneuvering heavier machinery across icy mountain passes with lightweight agility rather than brute off-road hardware.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Its style is terse, cool, and detached, presenting warfare as primarily a problem of calculation rather than brute force or individual courage.
    — Ethan Teekah, Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of brute
Adverb
  • Experts attribute the extremely warm ocean temperatures that fueled Rachel, which peaked as a Category 3 hurricane, in part to El Niño.
    — Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2026
  • All this makes the Home app very easy to use, but extremely underpowered.
    — Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, The Verge, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of extremely
Adjective
  • Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles is fighting for his job security after a brutal start to the season.
    — Scott Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 9 Oct. 2026
  • There’s the brutal heat; the skin destroying UV-rays of that miserable, scorching, eye-blinding sun; the constant allergy/sinusitis issues that NEVER let up; the smothering humidity.
    — R. Eric Thomas, Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of brutal
Adverb
  • One of the other things that Claude noticed was that these array of associated reverse transcriptases seem to be isolated to jumbo phages, which have very large genomes for bacteriophage.
    — Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2026
  • There’s very few cases where a fan actually gets to stand beside the man and add onto the man’s legacy.
    — Christine Imarenezor, VIBE.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of very
Adjective
  • Across the country, the species most frequently euthanized were feral swine, with about 132,000 deaths, and coyotes, with about 61,000, the data showed.
    — Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Juxtapositions of seemingly unlike topics (plants and gender, feral dogs and nuclear weapons) give way to Venn diagrams, with Johnson dwelling in their overlapping middles.
    — Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of feral
Adverb
  • Susanna Moore is terribly important to us, more so than any of Hemingway’s gallant girls.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Oct. 2026
  • The Nazis employed the V-2 heavily during this time, but the rocket was not terribly accurate.
    — Mike Wall, Space.com, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of terribly
Adverb
  • Indeed, the diamond was quite an exquisite addition, considering that such gemstones over 10 carats are incredibly rare.
    — Julia Teti, Footwear News, 12 Oct. 2026
  • For now, this perfect mix of burgeoning youth and senior leadership has come together to create an incredibly deep team with big dreams.
    — Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of incredibly
Adverb
  • The play broke the dam for an offense — and particularly a run game — that last year looked pretty damn broken.
    — Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 5 Oct. 2026
  • In fact, call it South Park or South America, the result was still damn good.
    — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of damn

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Cite this Entry

“Beastly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beastly. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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