savage
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsævɪd͡ʒ/
rhymes: -ævɪd͡ʒ
Forms: form: more savage
form: most savage
Etymology: From Middle English savage, from Old French sauvage, salvage (“wild, untamed”), from Late Latin salvāticus, alteration of Latin silvāticus (“wild”, literally “of the woods”), from silva (“forest; grove”). Doublet of sylvatic.
Senses: examples: text: a savage wilderness
text: a savage forest
text: The Englishman had extracted the heavy spear from the body of the lion, so that when he went into the forest to hunt that morning he had a feeling of much greater security than at any time since they had been cast upon the savage shore.
ref: 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 193:
text: Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage / And make a Northwest Passage to the sea.
ref: 1981, Stan Rogers, “Northwest Passage”, in Northwest Passage, Dundas, Ontario: Fogarty's Cove Music:
glosses: Wild; not cultivated or tamed.
examples: text: savage manners
text: I obſerv'd a Place where there had been a Fire made, and a Circle dug in the Earth, like a Cockpit, where it is ſuppoſed the Savage Wretches had ſat down to their inhumane Feaſtings upon the Bodies of their Fellow-Creatures.
ref: 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, pages 194–195:
text: What nation since the commencement of the Christian era ever arose from savage to civilized without Christianity?
ref: 1826 September, Edward D. Griffin, “Sermon IV. […] ”, in The National Preacher, volume 1, number 4, page 51:
text: It is so absurd to advance into the presence of savage royalty after the fashion of an Irishman driving a pig to market, for that is what we looked like, and the idea nearly made me burst out laughing then and there.
ref: 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
text: Her back was toward the jungle, and so she did not see the grasses part, or the savage face that peered from between. Little, bloodshot, close-set eyes scanned her intently, roving from time to time about the open beach for indications of the presence of others than herself.
ref: 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 193:
glosses: Barbaric; not civilized.
glosses: Primitive; lacking complexity or sophistication.
examples: text: savage beasts
text: a savage spirit
text: Muſick has Charms to ſooth a ſavage Breaſt, / To ſoften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.
ref: 1697, [William] Congreve, The Mourning Bride, a Tragedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act I, page 1:
glosses: Fierce and ferocious.
examples: text: He gave the dog a savage kick.
text: The woman was killed in a savage manner.
text: Fear of their cargo bred a savage cruelty into the crew. One captain, to strike terror into the rest, killed a slave and dividing heart, liver and entrails into 300 pieces made each of the slaves eat one, threatening those who refused with the same torture. Such incidents were not rare.
ref: 1963, C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins, 2nd Revised edition, page 9:
text: Mr. Lightfoot, 31, returned to the witness stand for the second day and continued a harrowing, first-person account of the savage beating that he received in July 2012, when, Bronx prosecutors contend, the officers decided to teach him a lesson.
ref: 2016 April 18, Winnie Hu with Kate Pastor, “Ex-Inmate Describes Rikers Beating as ‘Open Season’ for Guards on Trial”, in The New York Times:
text: The fight is not all one-sided. Lion is taking a savage beating as the two flagships trade body blows almost independent of the furious carronade going on behind them.
ref: 2018 October 17, Drachinifel, 14:13 from the start, in Last Ride of the High Seas Fleet - Battle of Texel 1918, archived from the original on 04 Aug 2022:
glosses: Brutal, vicious, or merciless.
examples: text: Wow, that was a savage burn. Absolutely no chill.
text: 'Oops, I did it again': Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson's deke was so savage it has a name
ref: 2018 February 22, Matt Bonesteel, “(headline)”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 Dec 2022:
text: Stephen Colbert revealed a savage new campaign slogan for President Donald Trump on Wednesday ― and it came courtesy of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).
ref: 2020 May 14, Ron Dicker, “Stephen Colbert Turns Rand Paul Diss Into Grim Campaign Slogan For Trump”, in HuffPost, archived from the original on 07 Dec 2022:
text: But now Gen Z is coming for them and it's absolutely savage. TikTok comment sections like this one have revealed the fact no one likes millennials and their endless Harry Potter references.
ref: 2020 June 18, Diyora Shadijanova, “What Gen Z'ers Really Think of Millennials”, in VICE, archived from the original on 12 May 2023:
text: This match continued the theme from last month as the two cousins started off with heated trash talk. Roman Reigns telling Jey Uso "I will end you..." in the same tone a parent tells their kid "I'm warning you..." was so savage.
ref: 2020 October 25, Alfred Konuwa, “WWE Hell In A Cell 2020 Results: Winners, News And Notes On October 25”, in Forbes, New York, N.Y.: Forbes Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 Nov 2020:
text: A savage new song by Shakira in which the Colombian star, philanthropist and committed believer in the veracity of hips ridicules her former partner Gerard Piqué has logged more than 63m YouTube views in 24 hours, making it the most watched new Latin song in the platform's history.
ref: 2023 January 13, Sam Jones, “'Out of your league': Shakira song mocking ex Gerard Piqué breaks YouTube record”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 May 2023:
glosses: Of an insult or person: disrespectful, audacious, and either blunt or sarcastic, in a hilarious way.
examples: text: – I'll see you in detention.
– Ah, savage!
glosses: Unpleasant or unfair.
glosses: Great, brilliant, amazing.
examples: text: – They were so savage to them!
glosses: Severe, rude, aggressive.
Derived terms: demi-savage
Savage Mountain
sweet savage romance
Related terms: word: noble savage
english: see for more terms
translation: see for more terms
word: sylvan