as in harshly
in a manner so as to cause loss or suffering
the prisoners were treated brutally at the hands of the guards
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Recent Examples of brutally
Across automotive assembly lines and steel plants, unscheduled stoppages are brutally costly.
—
Srishti Gupta, Interesting Engineering, 16 Sep. 2025
Summers in Capitol Reef can be brutally hot for hiking, but the weather is perfect in autumn for hitting the trails (though bear in mind that its high elevation makes climbing more difficult).
—Patricia Doherty, Travel + Leisure, 16 Sep. 2025
Kirk, who was brutally murdered last week during a campus event in Utah, was one of the most recognizable conservative activists in America.
—Christina Shaw, FOXNews.com, 16 Sep. 2025
Each comedian typically gets a minute to run through a joke or two and then is criticized or brutally roasted by Tony and his panel on the stage.
—Matthew Couden, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025
The image revealed the car brutally smashed up, missing its right headlight and with its bumper hanging off.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Sep. 2025
Surveillance cameras were rolling when Iryna Zarutska was brutally stabbed on a train in North Carolina on August 22, and the gruesome full video was later released publicly.
—Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 11 Sep. 2025
The motive behind the murders is still a mystery, almost three years after Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were brutally stabbed to death in the middle of the night by a complete stranger.
—Chris Spargo, PEOPLE, 10 Sep. 2025
The hike so far has been brutally hard.
—Alex Hutchinson, Outside, 10 Sep. 2025
Srishti Gupta, Interesting Engineering, 16 Sep. 2025
Summers in Capitol Reef can be brutally hot for hiking, but the weather is perfect in autumn for hitting the trails (though bear in mind that its high elevation makes climbing more difficult).
—Patricia Doherty, Travel + Leisure, 16 Sep. 2025
Kirk, who was brutally murdered last week during a campus event in Utah, was one of the most recognizable conservative activists in America.
—Christina Shaw, FOXNews.com, 16 Sep. 2025
Each comedian typically gets a minute to run through a joke or two and then is criticized or brutally roasted by Tony and his panel on the stage.
—Matthew Couden, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025
The image revealed the car brutally smashed up, missing its right headlight and with its bumper hanging off.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Sep. 2025
Surveillance cameras were rolling when Iryna Zarutska was brutally stabbed on a train in North Carolina on August 22, and the gruesome full video was later released publicly.
—Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 11 Sep. 2025
The motive behind the murders is still a mystery, almost three years after Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were brutally stabbed to death in the middle of the night by a complete stranger.
—Chris Spargo, PEOPLE, 10 Sep. 2025
The hike so far has been brutally hard.
—Alex Hutchinson, Outside, 10 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutally
Adverb
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Paes spoke passionately about the urgent need for resources in the harshly remote settings seen in the film — settings that help to foment these cycles of abuse.—
Stacey Wilson Hunt,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Sep. 2025
-
Hilleary, at the campaign event, also harshly criticized Biden’s immigration policies and his administration’s approach to the COVID-19 pandemic.—
David Mark,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
Adverb
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But with Burrow now looking likely to miss the majority of the regular season, those chances look severely diminished.—
Ben Morse,
CNN Money,
16 Sep. 2025
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This stagnation can severely impact marketability and career growth when the labor market eventually improves.—
Kara Dennison,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
Adverb
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On an oppressively hot Friday in July, plumes of smoke curl up from Arnolds Field.—
Laura Paddison,
CNN Money,
15 Aug. 2025
Adverb
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The bristles are neither too floppy nor too stiff, neither too long nor too short, and are cut to the perfect rounded shape that’s just right for swirling pigment over the apples or spreading it along your cheekbones—without having to work too hard for a completely natural finish.—
Sophia Panych,
Allure,
16 Sep. 2025
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The Eagles went chasing on a third-and-8 situation at the Chiefs’ 33 at the start of the third quarter, and Smith went down hard after a deep pass from Hurts fell incomplete along the left sideline.—
Brooks Kubena,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Brutally.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutally. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.
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