brusque
UK/bɹʊsk//bɹʌsk/
brusque adjective: rudely abrupt; curt, unfriendly.
Adjective
brusque (comparative brusquer or more brusque, superlative brusquest or most brusque)
- Rudely abrupt; curt, unfriendly.
- Mr. VValler, being probably of opinion that Monſieur Palamede’s arguments vvere too bruſque to be advanc’d in a diſpute vvith a Lady, vvho number’d not fevver than tvventy Kings of her progenitors, vvrote this poem in a more tender and courtly ſtyle; […]1730, [Elijah] Fenton, “Observations on Some of Mr. Waller’s Poems. [To Zelinda.]”, in Edmund Waller, edited by [Elijah] Fenton, The Works of Edmund Waller, Esq; in Verse and Prose, London: […]...
- [A]ll the answer Miss Jarron got was a brusque refusal, followed by Mr. Camperton's retreat from the piano.1761, “Thorpe Leigh; or, The Heir and the Owner”, in Riddell’s Review and Epitomist: A Literary Miscellany, and Record of Progress, part I, number III (New Series), London: J. H. Riddell, […]...
- Sour, tart.
- [T]he thin and bruske harſh vvine doth nouriſh the bodie leſſe, but yet more agreeable and nutritive it is to the ſtomack.1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XXIII.] The Medecines which Grapes Fresh and New Gathered doe Yeeld. […].”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World....
Verb
brusque (third-person singular simple present brusques, present participle brusquing, simple past and past participle brusqued)
- To act towards (someone or something) in a curt or rudely abrupt manner.
- Had this been done, Denine had not been bruſqued and carried by Villars at the firſt aſſault, […]1740, A[dam] Williamson, “The Disposition of an Army. [General Battles.]”, in Military Memoirs and Maxims of Marshal Turenne. […], Dublin: […] George Faulkner, […], →OCLC, footnote †, page 36
- He was indefatigable while he stayed and took true pains, but he brusqued the ministers too much, and I found after he was gone that he had thereby given more offense than I could have imagined.1781 August 24, Benjamin Franklin, “[Benjamin] Franklin to [William] Carmichael”, in Francis Wharton, editor, The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States. […] (50th Congress, 1st...
Proper noun (1) capitalized: Brusque
Brusque
- A municipality of Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Proper noun (2) capitalized: Brusque
Brusque
brusque meaning in Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada and Indonesian
brusque in Bengali
- কথাবার্তায় রুক্ষ, কর্কশ, রূঢ় আচরণ
brusque in Malayalam
- abrupt, curt, blunt
- മര്യാദയില്ലാത്ത, നിർമ്മര്യാദമായ, പരുഷമായ, മയമില്ലാത്ത, തുറന്നടിക്കുന്ന, അവിനീതമായ
brusque in Kannada
- ಒರಟು, ಬಿಗುಮಾನದ, ದುಡುಕಿನ, ನಯವಿಲ್ಲದ
brusque in Indonesian
- rudely abrupt — see also curt, unfriendly
- hantam kromo, kasar, serampangan
Examples of brusque in a sentence
- Father Falkener vvas, at the time of this viſit, 'about ſeventy years of age, active in mind and body, bruſque in his manners,' and very communicative.1788 May, “Art. VI. Of the Patagonians, Formed from the Relation of Father Falkener, a Jesuit, who had Resided among Them Thirty-eight...
- Wintergreen, who scribbled a brusque, unsigned reminder that the Army had only one Major Major Major Major and did not intend to lose him by promotion just to please Colonel Cathcart.1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “Major —— De Coverley”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 137:
- For if they are unable to resolve their differences by their own restraints and inventions, other and more impatient forces may provide brusquer machinery.1962 November 19, “Publishers’ Association of New York City, et al. and New York Mailers Union No. 6 International Typographical Union...
- The brusque New York chef [Ali Yeganeh] who was lampooned on "Seinfeld" as the "Soup Nazi" plans to open a chain of takeout soup stands across North America.2005 April 29, “No soup for you? Not so fast”, in NBC News, archived from the original on 26 Sep 2022:
Synonyms of brusque
Forms of brusque
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | brusquer |
| comparative | more brusque |
| superlative | brusquest |
| superlative | most brusque |
| alternative form | brusk |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | brusques |
| present participle | brusquing |
| past participle | brusqued |
| past | brusqued |
Origin of brusque
The adjective is borrowed from French brusque, from Italian brusco (“abrupt, sudden, brusque; brisk; eager; sour, tart; unripe; grim-looking”); further etymology unknown. The verb is derived from the adjective.
Borrowed from Portuguese Brusque.
Borrowed from French Brusque.
Words formed from brusque
Words that rhyme with brusque
Questions about brusque
- What does brusque mean?
- Brusque means rudely abrupt; curt, unfriendly.
- What is brusque in Bengali?
- Brusque in Bengali is কথাবার্তায় রুক্ষ, কর্কশ, রূঢ় আচরণ. See Brusque meaning in Bengali.
- How do you use brusque in a sentence?
- Father Falkener vvas, at the time of this viſit, 'about ſeventy years of age, active in mind and body, bruſque in his manners,' and very communicative.
- What part of speech is brusque?
- Brusque can be an adjective, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce brusque?
- Brusque is pronounced /bɹʊsk/ (UK).
Words near brusque in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: brusque (page history and authors); Brusque (page history and authors); brusque (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); brusque (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); brusque (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-brusque.ogg.
Cite this entry: “brusque.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/brusque. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.