beastly

[beest-lee]

adjective

beastlier, beastliest 

1. of or like a beast; bestial.

2. Informal.,  nasty; unpleasant; disagreeable.

   Synonyms: disgusting, mean, foul, vile, hateful, abominable

adverb

1. Chiefly British Informal.,  very; exceedingly.

   It's beastly cold out.

2. British Informal.,  disagreeably; outrageously.

   beastly rude.

beastly

/ ˈbiːstlɪ /

adjective

1. informal,  unpleasant; disagreeable; nasty

   beastly weather

2. obsolete,  of or like a beast; bestial

adverb

1. informal,  (intensifier)

   the weather is so beastly hot

Other Word Forms

• beastliness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of beastly¹

1175–1225; Middle English beasteliche, later be ( e ) stly. See beast, -ly ( def. )

Example Sentences

Not long after everyone tumbles into their normal lives again, the beastly debt snarling at their throats sends many running back to the arena either to get rich or die trying.

From Salon

They have a new offensive coordinator in Kellen Moore and added former New York Giants star runner Saquon Barkley, who figures to be beastly if he can stay healthy.

From Los Angeles Times

For centuries, the Greek Gorgon Medusa has been cast as a vicious monster, a beastly woman with writhing snakes for hair and a deadly gaze that turns living creatures to stone.

From New York Times

All of us kids were really excited because we saw them as mythical creatures that were beastly and scary and dangerous.

From Los Angeles Times

“I wanted a more conservative court,” Richardson, 54, said on a recent morning when the beastly Arizona summer finally yielded to a temperate taste of fall.

From Los Angeles Times

When To Use

What does beastly mean?

Beastly is used to describe a person or behavior that’s nasty, vile, or cruel.The word beast sometimes simply means a large animal, but it’s also often used to refer to a kind of monster. This sense of the word is sometimes used figuratively to refer to a person in a way that likens them to a monster and implies that they behave in a crude, brutish, or animalistic way. This is often what’s implied by the word beastly.Beastly can also mean unpleasant or disagreeable, as in beastly weather.In British English, beastly is sometimes used as an informal intensifier to mean very, extremely, or outrageously, as in It’s beastly cold out there or That was a beastly rude thing to do. In this case, beastly is used as an adverb, rather than an adjective.Example: We condemn this beastly attack and the terrorists who perpetrated it.