Beastly
of or like a beast; bestial.
Informal. nasty; unpleasant; disagreeable.
Chiefly British Informal. very; exceedingly:
It’s beastly cold out.
British Informal. disagreeably; outrageously:
beastly rude.
Contemporary Examples
And werewolves were about losing yourself to your “beastly side,” which must have been terrifying if you were a Victorian.
Maggie Stiefvater Talks New Novel ‘The Raven Boys,’ Fast Cars, and YA Fiction Doug Stanton September 27, 2012
Fumes filled the arena, engines revved, and the beastly vehicles made their way out on to the spotlight.
The Moms of Monster Jam Drive Trucks, Buck Macho Culture Eliza Krigman November 21, 2014
In 2010 Samaras gave TFLCar.com a tour of his beastly vehicle and the instruments he used to monitor storms.
Tim Samaras, Storm Chaser Extraordinaire: See the Highlights (VIDEO) The Daily Beast Video June 1, 2013
Historical Examples
I may have said policeman––I may have said anything in such a beastly situation.
Officer 666 Barton W. Currie
“Bury all these men,” said Hamilton, and spent a beastly night in the forest.
Bones Edgar Wallace
But it’s all the beastly blood and muck of the war that does it,—sends one back with a rush to things like that.
Christopher and Columbus Countess Elizabeth Von Arnim
You’re a low, beastly bounder, an’ I’m simply disgusted with you.
Bones Edgar Wallace
I was wet through and beastly cold, so said I’d have a cup of coffee.
Pincher Martin, O.D. H. Taprell Dorling
And I don’t want her to hear of this beastly business from Isabel.
The Choice Edith Wharton
“It’s beastly chilly in here,” observed Sir Arthur, with a shiver.
Guy in the Jungle William Murray Graydon
adjective -lier, -liest
(informal) unpleasant; disagreeable; nasty: beastly weather
(obsolete) of or like a beast; bestial
adverb
(informal) (intensifier): the weather is so beastly hot
adj.
c.1200, “brutish, sensual, debased;” late 14c., “in the manner of a beast,” from beast + -ly (1). Weakened in British upper crust use to “awfully, exceedingly” by mid-19c. Beastly drunk is from 1803.
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- Beastlike
any nonhuman animal, especially a large, four-footed mammal. the crude animal nature common to humans and the lower animals: Hunger brought out the beast in him. a cruel, coarse, filthy, or otherwise beastlike person. a live creature, as distinguished from a plant: What manner of beast is this? the beast, the Antichrist. Rev. 13:18. Historical […]
- Beastliness
of or like a beast; bestial. Informal. nasty; unpleasant; disagreeable. Chiefly British Informal. very; exceedingly: It’s beastly cold out. British Informal. disagreeably; outrageously: beastly rude. Historical Examples They are eminent in nothing, save as samples of beastliness. What a Young Husband Ought to Know Sylvanus Stall It was due to their low wages and to […]
- Beat
to strike violently or forcefully and repeatedly. to dash against: rain beating the trees. to flutter, flap, or rotate in or against: beating the air with its wings. to sound, as on a drum: beating a steady rhythm; to beat a tattoo. to stir vigorously: Beat the egg whites well. to break, forge, or make […]
- Beat a dead horse
something that has ceased to be useful or relevant. beat / flog a dead horse, to persist in pursuing or trying to revive interest in a project or subject that has lost its usefulness or relevance. a large, solid-hoofed, herbivorous quadruped, Equus caballus, domesticated since prehistoric times, bred in a number of varieties, and used […]
- Beat a path to someone's door
Come to someone in great numbers, as in Ever since she appeared on television, agents have been beating a path to her door. The term beat a path alludes to the trampling action of many feet. [ Late 1500s ]