sav·age ( P ) Pronunciation Key (svj)
adj.
Not domesticated or cultivated; wild: savage beasts of the jungle.
Not civilized; barbaric: a savage people.
Ferocious; fierce: in a savage temper.
Vicious or merciless; brutal: a savage attack on a political rival. See Synonyms at cruel.
Lacking polish or manners; rude.
n.
A person regarded as primitive or uncivilized.
A person regarded as brutal, fierce, or vicious.
A rude person; a boor.
tr.v. sav·aged, sav·ag·ing, sav·ag·es
To assault ferociously.
To attack without restraint or pity: The critics savaged the new play.
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[Middle English sauvage, from Old French, from Late Latin salvticus, from Latin silvticus, of the woods, wild, from silva, forest.]
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savage·ly adv.
savage·ness n.
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Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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savage
\Sav"age\ (?; 48), a. [F. sauvage, OF. salvage, fr. L. silvaticus belonging to a wood, wild, fr. silva a wood. See Silvan, and cf. Sylvatic.] 1. Of or pertaining to the forest; remote from human abodes and cultivation; in a state of nature; wild; as, a savage wilderness.
2. Wild; untamed; uncultivated; as, savage beasts.
Cornels, and savage berries of the wood. --Dryden.
3. Uncivilized; untaught; unpolished; rude; as, savage life; savage manners.
What nation, since the commencement of the Christian era, ever rose from savage to civilized without Christianity? --E. D. Griffin.
4. Characterized by cruelty; barbarous; fierce; ferocious; inhuman; brutal; as, a savage spirit.
Syn: Ferocious; wild; uncultivated; untamed; untaught; uncivilized; unpolished; rude; brutish; brutal; heathenish; barbarous; cruel; inhuman; fierce; pitiless; merciless; unmerciful; atrocious. See Ferocious.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
savage
\Sav"age\, n. 1. A human being in his native state of rudeness; one who is untaught, uncivilized, or without cultivation of mind or manners.
2. A man of extreme, unfeeling, brutal cruelty; a barbarian.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
savage
\Sav"age\ (?; 48), v. t. To make savage. [R.]
Its bloodhounds, savaged by a cross of wolf. --Southey.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
savage
adj 1: (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering; "a barbarous crime"; "brutal beatings"; "cruel tortures"; "Stalin's roughshod treatment of the kulaks"; "a savage slap"; "vicious kicks" [syn: barbarous, brutal, cruel, fell, roughshod, vicious] 2: wild and menacing; "a ferocious dog" [syn: feral] 3: without civilizing influences; "barbarian invaders"; "barbaric practices"; "a savage people"; "fighting is crude and uncivilized especially if the weapons are efficient"-Margaret Meade; "wild tribes" [syn: barbarian, barbaric, uncivilized, wild] 4: marked by extreme and violent energy; "a ferocious beating"; "fierce fighting"; "a furious battle" [syn: ferocious, fierce, furious] n 1: a member of an uncivilized people [syn: barbarian] 2: a cruelly rapacious person [syn: beast, wolf, brute, wildcat] v : criticize harshly or violently; "The press savaged the new President"
