bestial

[bes-chuh l, bees-] /ˈbɛs tʃəl, ˈbis-/

adjective

of, pertaining to, or having the form of a beast:

the belief that a person could assume bestial form after death; the bestial signs of the zodiac.

without reason or intelligence; brutal; inhuman:

bestial treatment of prisoners.

beastlike in gratifying one's sensual desires; carnal; debased.

Origin

1350-1400; Middle English (< Anglo-French) < Late Latin bēstiālis (Latin bēsti(a) beast + -ālis -al¹)

Related forms

bestially, adverb

Examples from the web for bestial

To bemoan such savagery as accursed, inhuman and bestial does not even begin to describe it.
But his view of humanity is a bleak one, predicated as it is on the bestial uniformity of the species.
They also tear across the stage with bestial ferocity.
bestial or childish blacks were comic relief in early films, and they were mascots of all-white baseball teams.
The only human sounds are bestial grunts and chortles.
The big story is not the push to modernize but the struggle to civilize, to curb the bestial side of human nature.
The soundtrack switches to repeated, insane, bestial screaming.
There's also no doubt that he and his successors often behaved as bestial murderers.
There was this incredibly bestial practice of cutting off limbs, chopping arms and hands.
Her human form watches over several bestial figures, suggesting that human reason presides over primal instincts.

British Dictionary definitions for bestial

bestial

/ˈbɛstɪəl/

adjective

brutal or savage

sexually depraved; carnal

lacking in refinement; brutish

of or relating to a beast

Derived Forms

bestially, adverb

Word Origin

C14: from Late Latin bestiālis, from Latin bestiabeast

Word Origin and History for bestial

adj.

late 14c., from Old French bestial (13c.) "relating to animals, stupid, foolish, bestial" and directly from Latin bestialis "like a beast," from bestia (see beast). Sense of "below the dignity of a human" is from c.1400, and in many cases its use is unjust to the beasts.