SAVAGE
Dictionary entry overview: What does savage mean?
• SAVAGE (noun)
The noun SAVAGE has 2 senses:
1. a member of an uncivilized people
2. a cruelly rapacious person
Familiarity information: SAVAGE used as a noun is rare.
• SAVAGE (adjective)
The adjective SAVAGE has 4 senses:
1. (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
2. wild and menacing
3. without civilizing influences
4. marked by extreme and violent energy
Familiarity information: SAVAGE used as an adjective is uncommon.
• SAVAGE (verb)
The verb SAVAGE has 2 senses:
1. attack brutally and fiercely
2. criticize harshly or violently
Familiarity information: SAVAGE used as a verb is rare.
Dictionary entry details
• SAVAGE (noun)
Meaning:
A member of an uncivilized people
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Synonyms:
savage; barbarian
Hypernyms ("savage" is a kind of...):
primitive; primitive person (a person who belongs to an early stage of civilization)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "savage"):
anthropophagite; anthropophagus; cannibal; man-eater (a person who eats human flesh)
head-shrinker; headhunter (a savage who cuts off and preserves the heads of enemies as trophies)
hunter-gatherer (a member of a hunting and gathering society)
Vandal (a member of the Germanic people who overran Gaul and Spain and North Africa and sacked Rome in 455)
Instance hyponyms:
Odoacer; Odovacar; Odovakar (Germanic barbarian leader who ended the western Roman Empire in 476 and became the first barbarian ruler of Italy (434-493))
Meaning:
A cruelly rapacious person
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Synonyms:
brute; beast; savage; wildcat; wolf
Hypernyms ("savage" is a kind of...):
aggressor; assailant; assaulter; attacker (someone who attacks)
• SAVAGE (adjective)
Meaning:
(of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
Synonyms:
vicious; savage; fell; cruel; barbarous; roughshod; brutal
Context examples:
a barbarous crime / brutal beatings / cruel tortures / Stalin's roughshod treatment of the kulaks / a savage slap / vicious kicks
Similar:
inhumane (lacking and reflecting lack of pity or compassion)
Meaning:
Wild and menacing
Synonyms:
ferine; feral; savage
Context example:
a ferocious dog
Similar:
untamed; wild (in a natural state; not tamed or domesticated or cultivated)
Meaning:
Without civilizing influences
Synonyms:
uncivilized; uncivilised; barbaric; barbarian; savage; wild
Context examples:
barbarian invaders / barbaric practices / a savage people / fighting is crude and uncivilized especially if the weapons are efficient / wild tribes
Similar:
noncivilised; noncivilized (not having a high state of culture and social development)
Meaning:
Marked by extreme and violent energy
Synonyms:
ferocious; fierce; furious; savage
Context examples:
a ferocious beating / fierce fighting / a furious battle
Similar:
violent (acting with or marked by or resulting from great force or energy or emotional intensity)
• SAVAGE (verb)
Meaning:
Attack brutally and fiercely
Classified under:
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities
Hypernyms (to "savage" is one way to...):
assail; assault; attack; set on (attack someone physically or emotionally)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Meaning:
Criticize harshly or violently
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Synonyms:
savage; crucify; pillory
Context examples:
The press savaged the new President / The critics crucified the author for plagiarizing a famous passage
Hypernyms (to "savage" is one way to...):
criticise; criticize; knock; pick apart (find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
