violent and cruel 残暴的；兽性的 a brutal attack/murder/rape/killing 野蛮的攻击／谋杀／强奸／杀害 a brutal and repressive regime 残酷镇压的政权
direct and clear about something unpleasant; not thinking of people’s feelings 直截了当的；冷酷的
Word Originlate 15th cent. (in the sense ‘relating to the lower animals’): from Old French, or from medieval Latin brutalis, from brutus ‘dull, stupid’.