savage

Etymology

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

adj

1. Wild; not cultivated or tamed.
   a savage wilderness
   a savage forest
   Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage / And make a Northwest Passage to the sea. 1981, Stan Rogers (lyrics and music), “Northwest Passage”, in Northwest Passage, Dundas, Ontario: Fogarty's Cove Music
2. Barbaric; not civilized.
   savage manners
   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
3. Fierce and ferocious.
   savage beasts
   a savage spirit
4. 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. 1963, C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins, 2nd Revised edition, page 9
   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. April 18, 2016, Winnie Hu, Kate Pastor, “Ex-Inmate Describes Rikers Beating as ‘Open Season’ for Guards on Trial”, in The New York Times
   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. 17 October 2018, Drachinifel, 14:13 from the start, in Last Ride of the High Seas Fleet - Battle of Texel 1918, archived from the original on 2022-08-04
5. (heraldry) Nude; naked, bare, indecent, immodest.
6. (slang) Of an insult or person: disrespectful and audacious 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 22 February 2018, Matt Bonesteel, “(headline)”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-25
   Stephen Colbert revealed a savage new campaign slogan for President Donald Trump on Wednesday ― and it came courtesy of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). 14 May 2020, Ron Dicker, “Stephen Colbert Turns Rand Paul Diss Into Grim Campaign Slogan For Trump”, in HuffPost, archived from the original on 2022-12-07
   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. 18 June 2020, Diyora Shadijanova, “What Gen Z'ers Really Think of Millennials”, in VICE, archived from the original on 2023-05-12
   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. 25 October 2020, Alfred Konuwa, “WWE Hell In A Cell 2020 Results: Winners, News And Notes On October 25”, in Forbes, New York, N.Y.: Forbes Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-11-01
   A savage new song by Shakira in which the Colombian star, philanthropist and committed believer in the veracity of hips ridicules her former partner Gerard Piqué has logged more than 63m YouTube views in 24 hours, making it the most watched new Latin song in the platform's history. 13 January 2023, Sam Jones, “'Out of your league': Shakira song mocking ex Gerard Piqué breaks YouTube record”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-05-12
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) 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.' 1847, Benjamin Disraeli, Tancred: or The New Crusade, page 251
   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. July 19, 1901, “Horses in time of War”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, number 10, page 296
2. (figurative) An aggressively defiant person.
   Their kids are little savages! One of them bit me the other day.
3. (slang) Someone who acts in an audacious and hilarious 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. 6 January 2022, Kalhan Rosenblatt, “Elmo's feud with a pet rock has consumed the internet”, in NBC News, archived from the original on 2023-05-29

verb

1. 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 two hundred and fifty torpedoes, hello Japanese battleships, dodge this! 6 March 2019, Drachinifel, 26:48 from the start, in The Battle of Samar (Alternate History) - Bring on the Battleships!, archived from the original on 2022-07-20
2. (figurative) 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. 2013-08-10, Lexington, “Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848
3. (of an animal) To attack with the teeth.
4. (obsolete, transitive) To make savage.