Language of the Day: Brutal
Last week, our Language of the Day blog talked about words for describing hot weather. This week, we will expand on that theme with another useful word. But this time, you can use it for more than heat!
adjective: brutal
savagely violent
punishingly hard or uncomfortable
direct and lacking any attempt to disguise unpleasantness
This word is particularly common in Canada, and can be used in a variety of situations. We use this word when we talk about something bad, like the weather, a challenging task, or a tough situation.
There are a lot of things we call brutal. For example:
A difficult or challenging situation:
“I have to study really hard for this exam. This class has been brutal.”
“Have you hiked the Chief in Squamish yet? We went this weekend and it was brutal! But the view was amazing.”
The weather:
“Did you see the weather forecast? It’s going to be 35 degrees tomorrow!”
”Brutal!”
“The winters can be brutal in some parts of Canada.”
An illness:
“My sister had a brutal cold last week.”
“When I had COVID, the cough was brutal.”