Brute vs. Man — What's the Difference?
By Maham Liaqat & Fiza Rafique — Updated on May 17, 2024
Brute refers to a person or animal characterized by physical strength and lack of reason, while man refers to an adult human male with the capacity for rational thought and social behavior.
Difference Between Brute and Man
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Brute often denotes a being, either human or animal, driven by instinct and physical power, lacking higher reasoning or empathy. It carries a negative connotation, implying savagery or lack of civility. Man, on the other hand, refers specifically to an adult male human, emphasizing rationality, intelligence, and social characteristics.
In literature and common usage, brute is used to describe someone who acts violently or without thought, focusing on their physicality over intellect. Man, contrastingly, highlights human qualities like thoughtfulness, social interaction, and moral considerations.
The term brute can be applied broadly to describe any entity displaying animalistic or uncivilized behavior, irrespective of gender. Conversely, man is gender-specific, referring only to males and often emphasizing attributes like strength, responsibility, and leadership within human society.
Brute is often associated with negative traits such as aggression, cruelty, and lack of refinement. Man generally has a neutral or positive connotation, embodying ideals of human capability and dignity.
While brute reduces an individual to their basest instincts, man acknowledges the complexity and potential of the human spirit. This distinction underscores the difference between viewing someone as merely a physical entity and recognizing their capacity for higher reasoning and social contribution.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
A being characterized by physical strength and lack of reason
An adult male human with rationality and social behavior
Connotation
Negative, implies savagery
Neutral to positive, implies human qualities
Usage Context
Describing animalistic or uncivilized behavior
Referring to male humans
Associated Traits
Aggression, cruelty, lack of refinement
Strength, responsibility, rationality
Scope
Can refer to any gender or species
Specific to adult male humans
Compare with Definitions
Brute
A person or animal displaying brute force.
The brute broke down the door with sheer strength.
Man
A male individual exhibiting human qualities.
He is a kind and thoughtful man.
Brute
An individual acting with savage cruelty.
The story depicted the villain as a heartless brute.
Man
A male regarded as an adult with responsibilities.
As a man, he took care of his family diligently.
Brute
A creature driven by instinct.
The wild brute roamed the forest fiercely.
Man
A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent).
Brute
An animal other than a human; a beast.
Man
An adult male human.
Brute
A brutal, crude, or insensitive person.
Man
A human or an adult male human belonging to a specific occupation, group, nationality, or other category. Often used in combination
A milkman.
A congressman.
A freeman.
Brute
Of or relating to animals other than humans
"None of the brute creation requires more than food and shelter" (Henry David Thoreau).
Man
The human race; mankind
Man's quest for peace.
Brute
Entirely physical
Brute force.
Man
A male human endowed with qualities, such as strength, considered characteristic of manhood.
Brute
Lacking or showing a lack of reason or intelligence
A brute impulse.
Man
A husband.
Brute
Savage; cruel
Brute coercion.
Man
A male lover or sweetheart.
Brute
Unremittingly severe
Was driven to steal food through brute necessity.
Man
Workers.
Brute
Coarse; brutish.
Man
Enlisted personnel of the armed forces
Officers and men.
Brute
Without reason or intelligence (of animals).
A brute beast
Man
A male representative, as of a country or company
Our man in Tokyo.
Brute
Characteristic of unthinking animals; senseless, unreasoning (of humans).
Man
A male servant or subordinate.
Brute
Unconnected with intelligence or thought; purely material, senseless.
The brute earth; the brute powers of nature
Man
(Informal) Used as a familiar form of address for a man
See here, my good man!.
Brute
Crude, unpolished.
Man
One who swore allegiance to a lord in the Middle Ages; a vassal.
Brute
Strong, blunt, and spontaneous.
I punched him with brute force.
Man
(Games) Any of the pieces used in a board game, such as chess or checkers.
Brute
Brutal; cruel; fierce; ferocious; savage; pitiless.
Brute violence
Man
(Nautical) A ship. Often used in combination
A merchantman.
A man-of-war.
Brute
(archaic) An animal seen as being without human reason; a senseless beast.
Man
Often Man(Slang) A person or group felt to be in a position of power or authority. Used with the
"Their writing mainly concerns the street life—the pimp, the junky, the forces of drug addiction, exploitation at the hands of 'the man'" (Black World).
Brute
A person with the characteristics of an unthinking animal; a coarse or brutal person.
One of them was a hulking brute of a man, heavily tattooed and with a hardened face that practically screamed "I just got out of jail."
Man
To supply with men, as for defense or service
Man a ship.
Brute
A kind of powerful spotlight.
Man
To take stations at, as to defend or operate
Manned the guns.
Brute
One who has not yet matriculated.
Man
To fortify or brace
Manned himself for the battle ahead.
Brute
(transitive) To shape (diamonds) by grinding them against each other.
Man
Used as an expletive to indicate intense feeling
Man! That was close.
Brute
Not having sensation; senseless; inanimate; unconscious; without intelligence or volition; as, the brute earth; the brute powers of nature.
Man
An adult male human.
The show is especially popular with middle-aged men.
Brute
Not possessing reason, irrational; unthinking; as, a brute beast; the brute creation.
A creature . . . not proneAnd brute as other creatures, but enduedWith sanctity of reason.
Man
(collective) All human males collectively: mankind.
Brute
Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of, a brute beast. Hence: Brutal; cruel; fierce; ferocious; savage; pitiless; as, brute violence.
The influence of capital and mere brute labor.
Man
A human, a person regardless of gender, usually an adult. See usage notes.
Every man for himself
Brute
Having the physical powers predominating over the mental; coarse; unpolished; unintelligent.
A great brute farmer from Liddesdale.
Man
(collective) All humans collectively: mankind, humankind, humanity. Sometimes capitalized as Man.
Brute
Rough; uncivilized; unfeeling.The application of predominantly physical effort to achieve a goal that could be accomplished with less effort if more carefully considered. Figuratively, repetitive or strenuous application of an obvious or simple tactic, as contrasted with a more clever stratagem achieving the same goal with less effort; - as, the first prime numbers were discovered by the brute force repetition of the Sieve of Eratosthenes.
Man
A member of the genus Homo, especially of the species Homo sapiens.
Brute
A cruelly rapacious person
Man
A male person, usually an adult; a (generally adult male) sentient being, whether human, supernatural, elf, alien, etc.
Brute
A living organism characterized by voluntary movement
Man
An adult male who has, to an eminent degree, qualities considered masculine, such as strength, integrity, and devotion to family; a mensch.
Brute
Resembling a beast; showing lack of human sensibility;
Beastly desires
A bestial nature
Brute force
A dull and brutish man
Bestial treatment of prisoners
Man
Manliness; the quality or state of being manly.
Brute
Someone lacking intellect or reason.
He behaved like a brute, ignoring all logical arguments.
Man
A husband.
Brute
A being devoid of compassion.
The dictator was seen as a brute by his people.
Man
A male lover; a boyfriend.
Man
A male enthusiast or devotee; a male who is very fond of or devoted to a specified kind of thing. Used as the last element of a compound.
Some people prefer apple pie, but me, I’m a cherry pie man.
Man
A person, usually male, who has duties or skills associated with a specified thing. Used as the last element of a compound.
I wanted to be a guitar man on a road tour, but instead I’m a flag man on a road crew.
Man
A person, usually male, who can fulfill one's requirements with regard to a specified matter.
Man
A male who belongs to a particular group: an employee, a student or alumnus, a representative, etc.
Man
An adult male servant.
Man
(historical) A vassal; a subject.
All the king's men
Man
A piece or token used in board games such as chess.
Man
(sports) A player on whom another is playing, with the intent of limiting their attacking impact.
Man
: I, we; construed in the third person.
Man
Any person, one
Man
(transitive) To take up position in order to operate (something).
Man the machine guns!
Man
To brace (oneself), to fortify or steel (oneself) in a manly way. Compare man up.
Man
To wait on, attend to or escort.
Man
To accustom (a raptor or other type of bird) to the presence of people.
Man
A human being; - opposed to beast.
These men went about wide, and man found they none,But fair country, and wild beast many [a] one.
The king is but a man, as I am; the violet smells to him as it doth to me.
'Tain't a fit night out for man nor beast!
Man
An adult male person; a grown-up male person, as distinguished from a woman or a child.
When I became a man, I put away childish things.
Ceneus, a woman once, and once a man.
Man
The human race; mankind.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion.
The proper study of mankind is man.
Man
The male portion of the human race.
Woman has, in general, much stronger propensity than man to the discharge of parental duties.
Man
One possessing in a high degree the distinctive qualities of manhood; one having manly excellence of any kind.
This was the noblest Roman of them all . . . the elementsSo mixed in him that Nature might stand upAnd say to all the world "This was a man!"
Man
An adult male servant; also, a vassal; a subject.
Like master, like man.
The vassal, or tenant, kneeling, ungirt, uncovered, and holding up his hands between those of his lord, professed that he did become his man from that day forth, of life, limb, and earthly honor.
Man
A term of familiar address at one time implying on the part of the speaker some degree of authority, impatience, or haste; as, Come, man, we 've no time to lose! In the latter half of the 20th century it became used in a broader sense as simply a familiar and informal form of address, but is not used in business or formal situations; as, hey, man! You want to go to a movie tonight?.
Man
A married man; a husband; - correlative to wife.
I pronounce that they are man and wife.
Every wife ought to answer for her man.
Man
One, or any one, indefinitely; - a modified survival of the Saxon use of man, or mon, as an indefinite pronoun.
A man can not make him laugh.
A man would expect to find some antiquities; but all they have to show of this nature is an old rostrum of a Roman ship.
Man
One of the piece with which certain games, as chess or draughts, are played.
Man
To supply with men; to furnish with a sufficient force or complement of men, as for management, service, defense, or the like; to guard; as, to man a ship, boat, or fort.
See how the surly Warwick mans the wall !
They man their boats, and all their young men arm.
Man
To furnish with strength for action; to prepare for efficiency; to fortify.
Man
To tame, as a hawk.
Man
To furnish with a servant or servants.
Man
To wait on as a manservant.
Man
An adult male person (as opposed to a woman);
There were two women and six men on the bus
Man
Someone who serves in the armed forces; a member of a military force;
Two men stood sentry duty
Man
The generic use of the word to refer to any human being;
It was every man for himself
Man
All of the inhabitants of the earth;
All the world loves a lover
She always used `humankind' because `mankind' seemed to slight the women
Man
Any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae
Man
A male subordinate;
The chief stationed two men outside the building
He awaited word from his man in Havana
Man
An adult male person who has a manly character (virile and courageous competent);
The army will make a man of you
Man
A male person who plays a significant role (husband or lover or boyfriend) in the life of a particular woman;
She takes good care of her man
Man
A manservant who acts as a personal attendant to his employer;
Jeeves was Bertie Wooster's man
Man
One of the British Isles in the Irish Sea
Man
Game equipment consisting of an object used in playing certain board games;
He taught me to set up the men on the chess board
He sacrificed a piece to get a strategic advantage
Man
Take charge of a certain job; occupy a certain work place;
Mr. Smith manned the reception desk in the morning
Man
Provide with men;
We cannot man all the desks
Man
A male human distinguished from boys.
The young man just graduated from college.
Man
An adult male contributing to society.
The man worked hard to improve his community.
Common Curiosities
What is a brute?
A brute is a person or animal characterized by physical strength and lack of reason. e.g., The brute's actions were driven purely by instinct.
Can brute refer to both humans and animals?
Yes, brute can describe both humans and animals displaying savage behavior.
Can brute be used in a neutral context?
Rarely, as it typically carries a negative implication.
Is brute used to describe physical strength?
Yes, brute often highlights physical strength over intellect.
What are the connotations of brute?
Brute has negative connotations, implying savagery and lack of refinement.
What does the term man refer to?
Man refers to an adult male human. e.g., The man took on the role of a leader in the project.
Does man imply rationality?
Yes, man implies rationality and human social behavior.
Can brute refer to behavior?
Yes, brute can describe behavior that is animalistic or uncivilized.
Is man used in formal contexts?
Yes, man is commonly used in both formal and informal contexts.
Is the term man gender-specific?
Yes, man specifically refers to adult male humans.
Does man have a positive or neutral connotation?
Man generally has a neutral to positive connotation.
What traits are associated with a man?
Traits such as responsibility, rationality, and strength are associated with a man.
What does calling someone a brute imply?
It implies they are acting with aggression and lack of reason.
What is the opposite of brute?
The opposite of brute might be a civilized or rational person.
Can man be used to describe boys?
No, man specifically refers to adults, not boys.
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Written by
Maham Liaqat
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
