savage

adj

1. Wild; not cultivated or tamed.

   “a savage wilderness”

   “a savage forest”

   “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.”

   “Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage / And make a Northwest Passage to the sea.”

2. Barbaric; not civilized.

   “savage manners”

   “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.”

   “What nation since the commencement of the Christian era ever arose from savage to civilized without Christianity?”

   “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.”

   “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.”

3. Primitive; lacking complexity or sophistication.
4. Fierce and ferocious.

   “savage beasts”

   “a savage spirit”

   “Muſick has Charms to ſooth a ſavage Breaſt, / To ſoften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.”

5. Brutal, vicious, or merciless.

   “He gave the dog a savage kick.”

   “The woman was killed in a savage manner.”

   “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.”

   “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.”

   “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.”

6. (slang)Of an insult or person: disrespectful, audacious, and either blunt or sarcastic, in a hilarious way.

   “Wow, that was a savage burn. Absolutely no chill.”

   “'Oops, I did it again': Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson's deke was so savage it has a name”

   “Stephen Colbert revealed a savage new campaign slogan for President Donald Trump on Wednesday ― and it came courtesy of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).”

   “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.”

   “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.”

7. (UK, slang)Unpleasant or unfair.

   “– I'll see you in detention. – Ah, savage!”

8. (Ireland, US, slang)Great, brilliant, amazing.
9. (US, slang)Severe, rude, aggressive.

   “– They were so savage to them!”

noun

1. (derogatory, historical)A person not living in a civilization; a barbarian.

   “'Well, my lord, I don't know,' said Freeman with a sort of jolly sneer; 'we have been dining with the savages.' 'They are not savages, Freeman.' 'Well, my lord, they have not much more clothes, anyhow; and as for knives and forks, there is not such a thing known.'”

   “The glimpse of the steamboat had for some reason filled those savages with unrestrained grief.”

   “In the year 1879, when the Utes succeeded in getting some United States troops into what was afterwards known as Thornburg's "rat hole," several mounted couriers succeeded in slipping through the circling line of savages.”

   “When Davey grasped spears and wommera it was impossible to recognize in this painted savage the alert, nattily dressed tracker.”

2. (figuratively)An aggressively defiant person.

   “Their kids are little savages! One of them bit me the other day.”

3. (slang)Someone who speaks in an audacious, hilarious, and often sarcastic manner.

   “It was on Dec. 29 that TikTok star Liv Pearsall posted a video titled "7 Times Elmo Was an Absolute Savage," in which the star with more than 2.7 million followers lip-synced to various Elmo-ments.”

   “"Sometimes they would stay up while she'd have a whole new guy in a relationship," she wrote in a comment. "LMFAO she is a savage."”

4. (obsolete)A wild and ferocious beast.

   “The torch-eyed ſavage, with growl tremendous, riſing up, diſlocated at one blow the arched neck of Sadit's Arabian ſteed, and brought the unfortunate omrah to the duſt, expiring between his extended claws.”

verb

1. (transitive)To attack or assault someone or something ferociously or without restraint.

   “No matter how anyone might savage me, I should stay strong.”

   “But that was only the start, because the Fletchers - (obviously) carrying two torpedo launchers - were only launching half-salvos, so one full wave of torpedoes had driven off the cruisers after having savaged the destroyers, aaand then it was a case of, well, here come twenty-five destroyers, here comes^([sic]) two hundred and fifty torpedoes, hello Japanese battleships, dodge this!”

2. (figuratively, transitive)To criticise vehemently.

   “His latest film was savaged by most reviewers.”

   “British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty, or rummage through their bins. Elsewhere in Europe, government contracts and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the mighty so far.”

   “The first sparks came on Thursday night, with a blistering speech from Ben Shapiro[…] who bemoaned the “frauds” and “grifters” in the movement, and went on to savage by name a roster of powerful right-wing figures.”

3. (transitive)To attack with the teeth.
4. (obsolete, transitive)To make savage.

   “Its bloodhounds, savaged by a cross of wolf.”

name

1. A surname.
2. An unincorporated community and census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland.
3. A suburban city in Scott County, Minnesota; a suburb of Minneapolis.
4. An unincorporated community in Tate County, Mississippi.
5. An unincorporated community in Richland County, Montana.