brusque

Etymology

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.

adj

1. 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: […] J[acob] Tonson[…], →OCLC, page cv
   [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,[…], chapter XX, page 33, column 2
   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 Years, and from the Different Voyagers who had Met with this Tall Race. Printed by the Friendship of George Allan, Esq; at His Private Press at Darlington, 1788, 4to. 15 Pages. [book review]”, in Thomas Christie], editor, The Analytical Review, or History of Literature, Domestic and Foreign.[…], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson,[…], →OCLC, page 47
   Where there are reasonably adequate peaceful alternatives, the use of disruptive self-help by either side of a labor dispute in so important an enterprise contributes neither to the public convenience nor to the long-term interest of the participants. For if they are unable to resolve their differences by their own restraints and inventions, other and more impatient forces may provide brusquer machinery. 19 November 1962, “Publishers’ Association of New York City, et al. and New York Mailers Union No. 6 International Typographical Union, AFL-CIO and Newspaper and Mail Deliverers Union”, in Decisions and Orders of the National Labor Relations Board (Cases No. 2-CA-7863 and 2-CA-7884), volume 139, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office [for the] National Labor Relations Board, published 1963, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1122
   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. But don’t expect the authentically rude New York treatment. 29 April 2005, “No soup for you? Not so fast”, in NBC News, archived from the original on 2022-09-26
   […] I approached the Commissioner of Deportation with a request to release some Armenians who were employed by Germans. He refused this in the brusquest manner and said to me in an incredibly arrogant tone of voice which I will never forget, ‘Vous ne comprenez pas ce que nous voulons. Nous voulons une Arménie sans Arméniens.’ [You do not understand what we want. We want an Armenia without Armenians.] 2014, “The People Responsible for the Genocide”, in Wolfgang Gust, editor, The Armenian Genocide: Evidence from the German Foreign Office Archives, 1915–1916, New York, N.Y., Oxford, Oxfordshire: Berghahn Books, page 69
   They admired in each other a brusque self-assurance and artless candor that others often perceived as arrogant. 19 June 2018, Gideon Lewis-Kraus, “Inside the Crypto World’s Biggest Scandal”, in Wired, San Francisco, Calif.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-07-11
   When Dany showed up to throw the Night King off his steed and send him plunging to earth, it was at least a coherent action, which the brusque dragon-grappling prior to it failed to convey. 28 April 2019, Alex McLevy, “Game Of Thrones Suffers the Fog of War in the Battle against the Dead (Newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2021-05-31
2. (obsolete) Sour, tart.

verb

1. (transitive, chiefly archaic) 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. 24 August 1781, Benjamin Franklin, “[Benjamin] Franklin to [William] Carmichael”, in Francis Wharton, editor, The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States.[…] (50th Congress, 1st Session, House of Representatives Mis. Doc.; 603, part 4), volume IV, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, published 1889, →OCLC, page 660
   Not that I suspect you of thus brusquing matters. It is rather my own fault where, which is too often the case, I am not too negligent about the spiritual concerns of my friends. 4 March 1803, William Wilberforce, “W. Wilberforce, Esq. to Thomas Babington, Esq.”, in Robert Isaac Wilberforce, Samuel Wilberforce, editors, The Correspondence of William Wilberforce.[…], volume I, London: John Murray,[…], published 1840, →OCLC, page 263
   [H]e Thomas Pringle] was poor, and from the outset [William] Blackwood domineered over and brusqued him. [James] Cleghorn was also poor, but of a sturdy disposition, and he brusqued every body. 1839 October, [Egerton Brydges], “Some Recollections of James Hogg. […] No. I.”, in Fraser’s Magazine for Town and Country, volume XX, number CXVIII, London: James Fraser[…], →OCLC, page 427, column 1
   The scholar may object that Professor Macmurray is a 'judaizer' who not only brusques the authority of the Church. 1939 August, George [Edward Gordon] Catlin, “Moralism”, in Anglo-Saxony and Its Tradition, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, § v, page 272
   Sometimes in bed Cole doesn't allow your hand to stay on his chest, he brusques it away. Sometimes he lets your hand rest there. 2003, [Nikki Gemmell], “Lesson 5: It is Absolutely Necessary to Wash the Armpits and Hips Every Day”, in The Bride Stripped Bare, London, New York, N.Y.: Fourth Estate, HarperCollins, part I, pages 10–11