Word.ws English Dictionary

savage

Syllables: sav·ageUK/ˈsævɪd͡ʒ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈsavɪd͡ʒ/

savage adjective: wild; not cultivated or tamed.

Adjective

savage (comparative more savage, superlative most savage)

  1. Wild; not cultivated or tamed.
    • a savage wilderness
    • a savage forest
  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.1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, pages 194–195
    Synonyms:
    barbarous, pagan, uncivil
  3. Primitive; lacking complexity or sophistication.
    Synonyms:
    crude, rough, rude
  4. Fierce and ferocious.
    • savage beasts
    • a savage spirit
  5. Brutal, vicious, or merciless.
    • He gave the dog a savage kick.
    • The woman was killed in a savage manner.
  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 name2018 February 22, Matt Bonesteel, “(headline)”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 Dec 2022
  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

savage (plural savages)

  1. (derogatory, historical) A member of a traditional, nonindustrialised society or indigenous tribe or other group, typically living closely with nature outside of the infrastructure of urbanized civilization.
    • '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.'1847, Benjamin Disraeli, Tancred: or The New Crusade, page 251
    • The natives here, even those who seem to be of pare Papuan race, were much more reserved and taciturn than those of Ké. This is probably because I only saw them as yet among strangers and in small parties. One must see the savage at home to know what he really is.1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 206
  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.2022 January 6, Kalhan Rosenblatt, “Elmo's feud with a pet rock has consumed the internet”, in NBC News, archived from the original on 29 May 2023
    • "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."2022 August 31, Emily Lefroy, “I 'hard launch' my first dates on Instagram: Confident or unhinged?”, in New York Post, New York, N.Y.: News Corp, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Oct...
  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.1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page 7

Verb

savage (third-person singular simple present savages, present participle savaging, simple past and past participle savaged)

  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...2019 March 6, Drachinifel, 26:48 from the start, in The Battle of Samar (Alternate History) - Bring on the Battleships!, archived from the original on 20 Jul 2022
  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.2013 August 10, Lexington, “Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848
  3. (transitive) To attack with the teeth.
  4. (obsolete, transitive) To make savage.
    • Its bloodhounds, savaged by a cross of wolf.1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London

Proper noun capitalized: Savage

Savage

  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.

savage meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

savage in Hindi

wild, not cultivated
जंगली jaṅglī
barbaric, not civilized
बर्बर barbar
fierce and ferocious
क्रूर krūr, उग्र ugra
brutal, vicious or merciless
बर्बर barbar, क्रूर krūr, निर्दयी nirdayī, उग्र ugra

savage in Tamil

காட்டுமிராண்டி

savage in Marathi

savage; scamp
सोरठ soraṭh

savage in Urdu

savage, uncivilized being
جانور jānvar
More languagesFewer languages
savage in Bengali
জংলি joṅli
savage in Malayalam
കാട്ടാളൻ
savage in Kannada
ಅನಾಗರಿಕ, ಕಾಡು ಮನುಷ್ಯ, ಕಿರಾತ, ಹಲ್ಲೆ ಮಾಡು
savage in Odia
ବର୍ବର
savage in Sanskrit
किरात kirāta, जाङ्गल jāṅgala
savage in Nepali
जनावर janāwar
savage in Arabic
مُتَوَحِّش mutawaḥḥiš, هَمَجِيّ hamajiyy
savage in Indonesian
biadab
savage in Persian
شرزه šarze
savage in Thai
ป่าเถื่อน bpàa-tʉ̀ʉan
savage in Vietnamese
mọi rợ, người dã man

Examples of savage in a sentence

  • Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage / And make a Northwest Passage to the sea.1981, Stan Rogers, “Northwest Passage”, in Northwest Passage, Dundas, Ontario: Fogarty's Cove Music:
  • What nation since the commencement of the Christian era ever arose from savage to civilized without Christianity?1826 September, Edward D. Griffin, “Sermon IV. […] ”, in The National Preacher, volume 1, number 4, page 51:
  • Her back was toward the jungle, and so she did not see the grasses part, or the savage face that peered from between.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 193:
  • Muſick has Charms to ſooth a ſavage Breaſt, / To ſoften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.1697, [William] Congreve, The Mourning Bride, a Tragedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act I, page 1:

All 40 example sentences with savage

Synonyms of savage

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of savage

Forms of savage

Adjective
comparativemore savage
superlativemost savage
Noun
pluralsavages
alternative formsalvage
Verb
third-person singular presentsavages
present participlesavaging
past participlesavaged
pastsavaged

Plural of savage: savages

Origin of savage

From Middle English savage, from Old French sauvage, salvage (“wild, untamed”), from Late Latin salvāticus, alteration of Latin silvāticus (“wild”, literally “of the woods”), from silva (“forest; grove”). Doublet of sylvatic.

* As an English surname of Norman origin, from the adjective savage. Compare Sauvage. * As an Irish surname, from ó Sabháin, also Anglicized as O'Savin; see Savin. * As a Jewish and Slavic surname, Americanized from Savich, Serbo-Croatian Savić. See Savic.

Words formed from savage

Phrases with savage

Words that rhyme with savage

Questions about savage

What does savage mean?
Savage means wild; not cultivated or tamed.
What is savage in Hindi?
Savage in Hindi is जंगली (jaṅglī), बर्बर (barbar), क्रूर (krūr). See Savage meaning in Hindi.
How do you use savage in a sentence?
Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage / And make a Northwest Passage to the sea.
What part of speech is savage?
Savage can be an adjective, a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce savage?
Savage is pronounced /ˈsævɪd͡ʒ/ (UK).

Words near savage in the dictionary

  1. Sav-la-Mar
  2. Sav.
  3. Sava
  4. savable
  5. savableness
  6. savage
  7. Savage Island
  8. Savage Islands
  9. Savage Mountain
  10. Savage River
  11. Savagean

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: savage (page history and authors); Savage (page history and authors); savage (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); सोरठ (Marathi) (page history and authors); جانور (Urdu) (page history and authors); জংলি (Bengali) (page history and authors); savage (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); savage (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); savage (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); किरात (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); जनावर (Nepali) (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-savage.ogg.

Cite this entry: “savage.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/savage. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.