2 syllables: Bru, tal. Stress on Bru.
BROO-tuhl
/ˈbɹutəl/
Brutal is pronounced BROO-tuhl (/ˈbɹutəl/). It has two syllables (Bru-tal), with the stress on "Bru". Brutal is an adjective describing something savagely cruel or harsh, or an event or experience that causes great difficulty or shock. It often conveys intensity, severity, or uncompromising toughness, sometimes with a sense of shock or abruptness. In diverse contexts, it can describe behavior, judgment, or conditions that feel extreme or formidable.
adjectiveBrutal is an adjective describing something savagely cruel or harsh, or an event or experience that causes great difficulty or shock. It often conveys intensity, severity, or uncompromising toughness, sometimes with a sense of shock or abruptness. In diverse contexts, it can describe behavior, judgment, or conditions that feel extreme or formidable.
"The coach was brutal in her critique, leaving no room for excuses."
"The heat was brutal, making every task feel exhausting and slow."
"His brutal honesty made it hard to hear, yet necessary for improvement."
Pronounce as BRU-tahl with primary stress on the first syllable. In IPA US/UK/AU: /ˈbruːtəl/. The first vowel is a long /uː/ as in 'food,' followed by a light schwa or reduced syllable /təl/. Mouth position: start with rounded lips for the /bruː/ and relax into a crisp /t/ and an unstressed /əl/ at the end. For audio reference, listen to native speakers saying 'brutal' in context in standard pronunciation videos.
Two frequent errors are pronouncing the first vowel as a short /ʊ/ or /ɪ/ instead of the long /uː/, and turning the final /əl/ into a hard /əl/ without reducing to a light, unstressed syllable. Correction: elongate the /uː/ in BRU, then release a quick /t/ and finish with a light, unstressed /əl/ or /əl/ reducing to /l/ in fast speech. Practice with minimal pairs to reinforce the long vowel and unstressed final syllable.
In US/UK/AU, the first syllable carries primary stress and uses a long /uː/. Differences lie mainly in rhoticity and vowel length: American accents may retain a more pronounced rhotic link and sharper /t/ release, UK accents may feature a slightly shorter /uː/ and more pronounced non-rhoticity, and Australian speech often shows a flatter intonation with a lightly released final /l/. The core /bruː/ remains consistent, but vowel quality and connected speech tendencies vary.
The difficulty centers on the long /uː/ followed by a crisp /t/ and a schwabby /əl/ suffix. In rapid speech, the /t/ can blend with the following vowel, and the final /əl/ can reduce to a quick /əl/ or even /l/ sounds. Additionally, the blend of a tense high back vowel /uː/ with a precise alveolar /t/ requires precise timing to avoid mispronouncing as /bruˈtæl/ or /brəˈtjuːl/. IPA cues help anchor tongue position and timing.
A unique query for 'Brutal' could be: Is the 'ru' sound in 'brutal' pronounced as a single consonant blend or as a rhotic /r/ plus vowel? Answer: In most dialects, it’s a /ruː/ sequence where /r/ is pronounced before the long /uː/; in more rapid speech, you may perceive it as a smooth onset /bruː/ with the /r/ and /uː/ tightly connected. The key is maintaining the long /uː/ quality right after the /r/ without breaking into separate syllables.
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US: rhotic /r/ is pronounced; UK: non-rhotic, some speakers drop /r/ before vowels; AU: non-rhotic with a flatter vowel; Vowel quality: /uː/ tends to be a fuller, tenser vowel in US, slightly shorter in UK/AU; Final /əl/ often reduced in casual speech; Use IPA cues to monitor subtle differences across accents.
Brutal comes from Late Latin brutalis, meaning ‘of or belonging to a Brutish, barbarous people,’ which itself derives from the Latin brutus meaning ‘rude, heavy, dull, coarse.’ The word entered English via French, with brutalis appearing in Middle French to describe savage or brutal actions. In English, the sense broadened from “brutal, brutish” describing animal-like savagery to metaphorical uses describing anything harsh, extreme, or violent in nature. Across the centuries, usage shifted from physical brutality to psychological and experiential intensity, as in brutal weather, brutal critique, or brutal conditions. The modern meaning emphasizes uncompromising severity or stoic harshness and carries connotations of blunt force applied to situations, judgments, or environments. The word’s trajectory mirrors a cultural evolving tolerance for stark, unsoftened descriptions and a tendency to compress intensity into a single adjective. First known English attestations appear in the 17th century, aligning with broader adoption of classical-derived terms in scientific and descriptive vocabularies. Today, brutal remains common in both everyday slang and formal critique, though tone shifts with context—from vivid, emphatic description to literary compression—while retaining its core sense of harsh, extreme force or impact.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Brutal" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "Brutal"
-uel sounds
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